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Former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan told The Tribune last week he had talked to "a couple" of teams about returning to the NBA.
It turns out one of them was the Milwaukee Bucks.
USA Today reported Monday that Sloan has talked to Milwaukee about its vacant head coaching job. The newspaper, citing two anonymous league sources, called Sloan "a serious candidate."
Sloan, 71, coached the Jazz for 23 seasons and into two NBA Finals before abruptly resigning on Feb. 10, 2011. His name has been connected to several job searches over the past two years, including Indiana, Portland and Charlotte.
Most recently, Sloan told The Tribune he talked to a couple of teams, but he declined to identify them and said — at that point — no job offer had been made.
"It's just been conversation more than anything else," Sloan said. "I'll explore it and see what's going on. It's mostly been people checking on what I'm doing, what my wishes are and how I'm thinking."
Asked what kind of situation might lure him back to the NBA, he said, "One thing is, at my age, you'd probably like to coach a team that has a chance to win some games, rather than one that's down the ladder a little bit."
Led by young point guard Brandon Jennings and shot-blocking center Larry Sanders, Milwaukee finished last season with a record of 38-44. The Bucks were the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs but were swept in the first round by LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
Scott Skiles started the season as Milwaukee's head coach, but he left midway through the year. Assistant Jim Boylan took over on an interim basis, but he was not asked back after the Bucks were eliminated from the playoffs.
According to various media reports in recent days, the Bucks have also talked to ex-Portland head coach Nate McMillan, Los Angeles Lakers assistant Steve Clifford and Houston assistants Kelvin Sampson and B.J. Bickerstaff about their vacant coaching job.