Basketball taught Paul Silas to be patient.
As a player he waited 10 years before winning his first championship. As a manager, he has waited 15 years for a second chance to lead a team. As a father, he waited 20 years to see his son get a chance to lead a franchise.
“I’ve always tried to stay positive,” Silas said in 2013, “and I think that’s usually worked out.”
Silas, who touched the game as a player, coach and president of the National Basketball Players Association, has passed away, his family announced Sunday. Silas, whose son, Stephen Silas, is the head coach of the Houston Rockets, was 79 years old.
“He combined knowledge developed over nearly 40 years as an NBA player and coach with an innate understanding of how to combine discipline with his endless positivity,” said Charlotte Hornets president Michael Jordan. “On the pitch or off, Paul’s enthusiastic and engaging personality was accompanied by an anecdote for every occasion. He was one of the all-time great people in our game and he will be missed.”
Silas’ daughter, Paula Silas-Guy, told The New York Times that her father died Saturday night of cardiac arrest. The Boston Globe first reported Silas’ death.
“We mourn the passing of former NBA All-Star and head coach Paul Silas,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “Paul’s enduring contributions to the game are seen through the many players and coaches he has inspired, including his son, Rockets head coach Stephen Silas. We send our deepest condolences to Paolo’s family.”
Silas began his head coaching career with a three-year stint in charge of the then San Diego Clippers starting in 1980. After spending more than a decade as an assistant, he returned to head coaching and spent time with the Charlottes Hornets. the New Orleans Hornets, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Charlotte Bobcats.
He led four of those teams to the playoffs, winning exactly 400 games: 387 in the regular season, 13 more in the postseason.
“Paul has made a great contribution to the game of basketball and will be greatly missed!” Hall of Fame guard and Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson took to Twitter.
The Rockets hosted Milwaukee on Sunday night. It was not immediately clear how long Stephen Silas would be out of the team; the Rockets planned for John Lucas to run the team on an interim basis while the Silas family grieved.
“His endearing presence and big personality have inspired legions of NBA players and coaches,” Paul Silas’ Cavaliers said in a statement released by the team. “We send our deepest condolences to the Silas family and all those who loved him. Rest in power coach!
Stephen Silas entered the NBA world when his father coached in Charlotte, starting out as an advanced scout and eventually serving as an assistant on his father’s staff with the Hornets in 2000. It took Stephen Silas two decades to get a chance to be a boss. coach, who comes as Houston hired him in 2020.
“My dad, obviously, was my number one mentor, someone I could lean on, ask questions, and he would ask me questions,” Stephen Silas said in a 2021 Rockets-produced documentary about his coaching journey. “He really valued my opinion, which was a little weird for me, being so young and inexperienced.”
Stephen Silas persevered for a long time before getting his big break. She saw his father waiting a long time for the job he also wanted. Paul Silas was fired by the San Diego Clippers in 1983 and would never get a chance as head coach again until 1999, when Dave Cowens, for whom Paul Silas was an assistant, resigned from Charlotte after a 4-11 start in the shortened 1998-99 season.
“He was known as a tough, tough, hard worker and it really hurt me when I was an assistant coach, for about 10 years, when I couldn’t get a job as a boss,” Paul Silas told the Rotary Club of Charlotte as he gave a speech there in 2013. “I’ve really talked to teams about being a head coach, but I haven’t had one. What happened is that I stayed positive. I had a positive attitude. Even though I couldn’t get the job, I said, “No, I won’t be negative.” I’ll be positive.’”
Eventually, Silas would take over from Cleveland. It came in 2003, the same year the Cavaliers drafted James.
“I coached LeBron for two years, his first two years, and LeBron was incredible,” said Paul Silas. “At 18, I knew Bill Russell, I knew a lot of players who came in that most players his age don’t even know. And he understood the game.
In time, James would become champion. It took Paul Silas a few years to get to that level as a player as well.
He was selected to the All-Defensive team five times and averaged 9.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 16 seasons with the St. Louis and Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix, Boston, Denver and Seattle. Silas won two championships with the Celtics, the first in his 10th season as a player and a third with the SuperSonics. At 36, he was the oldest player in the NBA when he retired.
“Respected by all who knew him in the NBA, we are grateful for his contributions to the game during his basketball life,” the Suns said Sunday.
Paul Silas played college basketball at Creighton, averaging 20.5 points and 21.6 rebounds over three seasons. He was elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
“I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Creighton legend Paul Silas,” said Bluejays coach Greg McDermott. “His illustrious playing and coaching career will be matched by few.”
More NBA AP: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
