It was also Utah's first season playing in the Delta Center.

Stockton led the league in both assists and steals, while Malone was second in the league in points per game and points scored.

There was parity in the Western Conference, but Portland, Golden State and Utah were the only three teams to really be considered championship contenders. Golden State got tossed in the first round by Seattle, only to lose to Utah in the conference semis.

Portland, however, cruised to the Western Conference finals where they squared off with the Jazz and eventually defeated them 4-2.

1993-94: Sloan and Co. won 53 games that season. And with Michael Jordan out of the league to pursue a career in baseball, it was another team's turn to be crowned NBA champions. But it wasn't Utah.

Seattle, San Antonio and Houston were now the big boys in the wild Western Conference. Stockton and Malone were having another great season, and both made the All-NBA first team that year.

The top-seeded Seattle Supersonics were upset by the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets that year, and Utah cruised past a 55-win Spurs team in the first round of the playoffs. But Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets stood in the way of Sloan's team in the conference finals, defeating the Jazz 4-1.

1996-97: Things could not have gone better for Utah that season. Malone won his first Most Valuable Player award, and the Jazz won 64 games. And despite that, Sloan was shafted out of the Coach of the Year award, losing to Miami's Pat Riley. But in all honesty, Phil Jackson deserved it.

The first three rounds of the postseason came easily to the Jazz, and they finally got past Hakeem and the Rockets in the postseason. Next on the table: Michael Jordan and the 69-win Chicago Bulls, for all the marbles. Utah gave Chicago all it could handle, but lost the series 4-2.

2006-07: Malone and Stockton were long gone from Utah. Sloan had failed to reach the postseason three consecutive seasons after the Malone-Stockton era ended.

But in '06-07, Utah took the league by surprise with Sloan's new roster and returned to the postseason. Led by Sloan's newest dynamic duo in Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, Utah won 50 games for the time since 2001 and surprisingly reached the conference finals, thanks partly to the Mavericks — who won 67 games and lost to an eighth seed in the first round.

Utah lost in the conference finals to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs, but a new era had begun for Sloan in Utah.

So where does Jerry Sloan rank among the all-time best head coaches? Despite not having a ring, Sloan can easily fit on a list with names like Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley.

Sloan ranks fourth all time in coaching wins (1,102) and sixth all time in playoff wins (93). So that definitely amounts to something.

Where does Sloan rank among the top 20 coaches in NBA history? Ninth. And that's on a list full of coaches with at least one championship ring on their finger.

Who's ahead of him you say?

1. Red Auerbach
2. Phil Jackson
3. Bill Fitch
4. Pat Riley
5. Chuck Daly
6. Jack Ramsey
7. Red Holzman
8. Lenny Wilkins
9. Jerry Sloan
10. John Kundla

Jerry Sloan has already punched his ticket for the Hall of Fame. The only thing to wonder about now is, when?

For more from this Bleacher Report writer, click here.