Growing up in McLeansboro, Ill., Jazz coach Jerry Sloan's family didn't get a phone for the first time until his junior year in high school. So you can only imagine the fun Wednesday in trying to explain Twitter to the soon-to-be 67-year-old.
One of the local television stations asked Sloan about Charlie Villanueva sending a tweet (update) from the locker room at halftime of Milwaukee's game Sunday against Boston and the resulting fallout with Bucks coach Scott Skiles.
"I don't follow that," Sloan said. "I don't even have a computer. I don't know how to turn one on. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm going to be totally honest. How would you do that?"
Sloan was told that Villanueva could do it through his cell phone. This brought more confusion. "I have a phone, but I don't know how to use it that way," Sloan said. "I wish I did, but I didn't want to be aggravated. I've just kind of been that way all along."
Sloan has had a no cell phone rule on the team bus - - the Jazz's p.r. staff often has to text us with updates about practice times and whatnot - - but is realistic about how closely his players are adhering to it.
"I know they're back there on the bus, hiding around, doing that stuff," Sloan said.
Deron Williams walked by and was told we were trying to explain Twitter to Sloan. "Coach doesn't like it when we text," said Williams, who claimed to know little about Twitter. He said nobody would even think about doing it at halftime as long as Sloan was coach.
The Jazz did have a moment earlier in the season, Sloan said, when a player's phone went off during a meeting. "Years ago, I would have put my foot on it and squeezed on it," Sloan said. "I'm too old to do that. I'm afraid I'll slip off it and hurt myself."
When it comes time to promote Sloan for NBA Coach of the Year, the Jazz really should create a Twitter feed in his honor.
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