This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A lengthy postgame discussion Wednesday night involving Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and general manager Kevin O'Connor, among others, was described by people with knowledge about the event as being a heat-of-the-moment occurrence that can happen during the course of a long NBA season.

Sloan spent more than 30 minutes behind closed doors before finally speaking with the media. He was clearly disturbed during the initial portion of his postgame interview, and quickly answered two questions about his meeting with O'Connor before saying that he would only discuss game-related queries and then trailing off in mid-sentence.

During and following the conversation involving Sloan and O'Connor, a practice scheduled for Thursday morning was abruptly canceled, forward Andrei Kirilenko emerged from the coaches' room and not the locker room, and multiple players acknowledged that there was a weird vibe after the game. Meanwhile, Sloan vaguely hinted that an update would be provided in the future about his discussion involving O'Connor, while a request for an interview with O'Connor was quickly denied. However, no indication was given that anything drastic is expected to happen with the Jazz, Sloan or O'Connor.

The 68-year-old Sloan is currently in his 23rd season as Utah's head coach. He has signed an extension to remain with the Jazz through the 2011-12 campaign, but is not expected to officially make a decision about returning to the team until after the 2010-11 season is complete.

O'Connor is in his 12th season with Utah and is the second-longest tenured GM in the NBA.

— Brian T. Smith

Twitter: tribjazz