Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan to resign

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SALT LAKE CITY — After 22-plus years, the Jerry Sloan Era has come to an unexpected end in Utah.

The Hall of Famer, who had the longest tenure of coaches in major U.S. professional sports, has resigned from the head coaching job he's held with the Utah Jazz since 1988, a source confirmed to KSL.

Sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that Jazz point guard Deron Williams called his own play during Wednesday's loss to the Chicago Bulls, instead of the play Sloan called from the sideline.

The action led to a halftime incident between Williams and Sloan and a post-game discussion with Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor.

ESPN's sources said this was only one of a series recent events between the coach and the star player.

Longtime assistant coach Phil Johnson will also exit with Sloan, who was in his 23rd season with the Jazz.

The Jazz have called a press conference for 3 p.m. this afternoon but a spokeswoman would not confirm any details of Sloan's resignation or any potential replacements. NBA-TV planned on carrying the press conference live.

It is unknown who will replace Sloan as the Jazz's bench boss.

Utah's coaching staff under Sloan also consisted of former NBA player Tyrone Corbin and Scott Layden, who was the general manager of the New York Knicks prior to rejoining the Jazz.

This news comes after the Jazz lost to Chicago at EnergySolutions Arena on Wednesday, with ex-Jazz players Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer helping the Bulls escape Utah with a 91-86 win.

After the game, Sloan didn't come out of his office for a postgame interview until more than a half-hour after his team lost for the 10th time in 14 games. Utah has struggled lately, falling to 31-23 after a 15-5 start.

Sloan usually talks to reporters between 5-10 minutes after the final buzzer, but he had been in a discussion with general manager Kevin O'Connor.

"We just had something we had to discuss," Sloan said, "and we'll talk to you all later on about that."

Speculation was that the Jazz were talking about a trade.

The shocking resignation came two days after the 68-year-old Sloan confirmed that he had signed a one-year extension to remain the Jazz's head coach through the 2011-12 season.