This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Former Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan interviewed with Portland but has withdrawn his name from consideration for a similar job with the Trail Blazers.
According to Sloan, he talked to Portland general manager Neil Olshey on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
On Thursday morning, however, he called Olshey and took his name out of the running.
"There's nothing to talk about, really," Sloan said Thursday afternoon. "The Portland people are great people and were great to work with. It's just one of those things that didn't work out on my end."
Sloan declined to be more specific.
Asked if he would be interested in any future NBA job openings, the 70-year-old Sloan said, "I couldn't speculate on that."
Sloan coached the Jazz for 23 seasons before citing fatigue and resigning midway through the 2010-11 season.
Last September, Sloan told The Tribune he might be interested in returning to coaching, if the correct opportunity presented itself.
In May, he interviewed for the Charlotte Bobcats' head coaching job with team owner Michael Jordan.
The Bobcats eventually listed Los Angeles Lakers assistant Quin Snyder, Indiana Pacers assistant Brian Shaw and Sloan as the three finalists for the job.
Before a coach could be named, however, Sloan also withdrew his name for the Charlotte job.
Only days later, the Bobcats surprisingly named St. John's assistant Mike Dunlap as their new head coach.
Sloan's interview with the Trail Blazers and his decision to withdraw from consideration was first reported by FloridaSportsSouth.com.