Stephen Silas

Stephen Silas (born 1973) is an American basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] He is the son of longtime NBA head coach Paul Silas.

He worked under his father at the New Orleans Hornets from 2000 to 2003, and for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 to 2005. He also served as an advance scout for the Washington Wizards during the 2005–06 season, and as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors from 2006 to 2010, before leaving to rejoin his father with the Charlotte Bobcats. The team was then re-named Charlotte Hornets, and Silas ended up working there from 2010 until 2018.

At the time of his hiring as an assistant with the Hornets on June 5, 2000, he was the youngest assistant in the NBA at the age of 27.^[2]

Early career

Silas was born in Boston, and grew up in Boston and New York City. He graduated from Brown University in 1996 with bachelor's degrees in sociology and management. While studying, he played four seasons for university's basketball team. After graduation and before joining the NBA, Silas spent three years as the assistant executive director of the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) in Providence, Rhode Island.

Coaching career

Silas assisted the Hornets to the playoffs in the 2013–14 and 2015–16 seasons and during the 2013–14 season, the Hornets finished with the second highest number of single season wins in franchise history (43).^[3] During the 2011–12 season, on several occasions Silas served as the head coach for the Charlotte Bobcats.^[4]

Prior to joining the Bobcats, Silas spent more than five years coaching with the Golden State Warriors. He has been an NBA assistant coach and scout for more than 10 years. He did not only work with his father, but also worked for legendary Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson. With the Warriors, Silas concentrated on the development of perimeter players as well as game preparation and managing the team's offensive and defensive playbook. One of these perimeter players included the two-time MVP Stephen Curry. He also served as the head coach for the Warriors' Summer League entry in Las Vegas.

Prior to joining the Warriors, Silas served as an advance scout for the Washington Wizards during the 2005–06 season after spending five seasons on the coaching staffs of his father, Paul Silas, with the Cleveland Cavaliers and both Hornets' franchises. Silas served as an assistant coach for the Cavaliers from 2003 to 2005, where he worked closely with LeBron James and was responsible for individual skill work, player development, game preparation, pre-game walkthroughs as well as the management and development of the technology and NBA scouting systems for the coaching staff. Silas also served as head coach for the Cavaliers 2003 Summer League teams in Boston and Orlando.

Silas also spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets prior to joining the Cavaliers. Silas originally joined the Hornets in the summer of 1999 as an advance and college scout, scouting nearly 200 NBA and college games in that role. He also served as the head coach for the Hornets Summer League squad at the 2002 Orlando Summer Pro League. In addition to his work with NBA teams, Silas coached at the 2003 and 2007 NBA Pre-Draft camps.^[5]

In 2010, he joined the Charlotte Bobcats after his father became interim head coach of the team.^[6] At the end of the 2015–16 season, Silas emerged as a leading candidate to fill the head coaching position for the Houston Rockets. ^[7] He has over 14 years of assistant coach experience and over 16 years of NBA experience.

On December 4, 2017, Silas filled in as head coach of the Hornets when Steve Clifford became ill,^[8] and continued to do so until Clifford returned on January 16, 2018.^[9]

International coaching

Internationally, Silas has worked at many camps and clinics across the globe to help promote the game of basketball and the NBA. Recently, he served as coach at the Korea Development Camp in Seoul, working in conjunction with the NBA and Korean Basketball League. In 2008, he served as a coach at the NBA's Basketball Without Borders camp in Africa, as well as in Beijing during the summer of 2005. And in 2004, he represented the NBA Coaches Association at the Dirk Nowitzki Basketball Academy in Berlin, Germany.^[10]

Personal life

Stephen and his wife, Keryl, are the parents of two young daughters, Kyler Elyse and Kaelyn ^[11]

References

External links

• NBA.com – Stephen Silas