Keyon Martin recalls realizing Jerry Sloan was no pushover

Kenyon Martin was tough as nails during his playing days and did not hesitate to mark his territory. However, as he eventually realized, toughness may come in all shapes and forms. One night, the 2000 NBA Draft's top pick delivered a blow to Karl Malone's head, expecting a response from the star forward. Instead, it was head coach Jerry Sloan who stepped up to confront him.

"I feel bad about it now, but you might remember that I once hit Karl Malone upside the head. He went down hard. Given his reputation as a tough guy, I thought he was going to get up, and we were going to get it on. But he didn't do nothing. His coach did, though," Martin said on The Players' Tribune.

"Jerry Sloan ran down the sideline, screaming, 'What the hell? I'm going to kick your ass!' I was so surprised. I was like, 'Whoa! Sit your old a-- down before I hit you too!' We got into it, and they had to separate us. That was when I realized that Jerry Sloan was a tough dude," the Cincinnati product added.

"Now's his chance"

The NBA is a small world. That's why the personalities around the Association make amends and move on, knowing that they might transact and run into each other sooner rather than later. For Martin and Sloan, this came in 2004, three years after the incident, and the athletic power forward was a free agent. Jerry, as hard-nosed as he was, delivered a pitch to K-Mart's agent the only way he knew how.

"Years later, he was still coaching the Jazz, and I was a free agent. They wanted to get me. He told my agent that story: Remember when Kenyon said he'd kick my a--? Now's his chance," recalled one-time All-Star.

Eventually, Martin decided to take his talents to Denver, where he played for seven years. Sloan retired in 2011 after coaching the Jazz for 23 seasons.

A defensive pioneer

Sloan was a Hall of Fame coach, but his impact on the game of basketball as a player may have been more significant. Jerry was a defensive powerhouse who helped shape the foundations of modern basketball defense as we know it today.

"He set a tone defensively for the rest of the league years after to follow," said Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy. "Every team tried to find them a Jerry Sloan."

Sloan made the All-Defensive Team in six of his 11 seasons. The league did not track steals until 1973, but "Charlie Hustle" averaged 2.2 swipes per game in his last three seasons. That's better than John Stockton (2.17), Allen Iverson (2.17), Chris Paul (2.04), and Scottie Pippen (1.96)! If Jerry had enough games to qualify, he would be sixth in the NBA's all-time steals leaderboard. In the same vein, he would be high up on the list if the steals in his first eight seasons were officially recorded.

"Jerry Sloan was probably one of the most tenacious defenders that I have ever seen," said eight-time All-Star. "He'd get in your jock strap and ride you all the way down the court."

If anything, that heated encounter with K-Mart was just another day in the office for Sloan. The guy considered the 'swollen ankles, broken fingers, and noses' as the "fun part" of playing basketball. Without a doubt, he was something else.