Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams as a player and LeBron James’ first coach in the league, has died, his family announced Sunday. He was 79.
The family revealed the death through the Houston Rockets, for whom Silas’ son, Stephen, is a second-generation head coach. No official cause was immediately announced.
Paul Silas, who began his NBA playing career with the St. Louis (and later Atlanta) Hawks, started his career as a head coach with a three-year stint leading the then-San Diego Clippers starting in 1980. After spending more than a decade as an assistant, he returned to being a head coach and spent time with the Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Bobcats. He took four of those teams to the playoffs.
Silas took over in Cleveland in 2003, the same year the Cavaliers drafted James.
“I coached LeBron for two years, his first two years, and LeBron was unbelievable,” Paul Silas said. “At 18 years old, he knew about Bill Russell, he knew about a lot of players who came through that most players his age don’t even know. And he understood the game. I made LeBron a point/forward because I didn’t have one when he first started. He didn’t say a word to me. He just took over the game, and we did well.”
In time, James would become a champion. It took Paul Silas a few years to get to that level as a player as well. He was a five-time All-Defensive team selection who averaged 9.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 16 seasons with the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks (who made him a second-round draft pick in 1964), Phoenix, Boston, Denver and Seattle. Silas won two titles with the Celtics – the first coming in his 10th season as a player – and claimed a third with the SuperSonics. He averaged 12.8 points and 13.8 rebounds in the 1976 Finals for Boston against the Suns.
“Paul Silas was a giant in basketball circles,” former NBA player Rex Chapman wrote Sunday on Twitter. “A great man. Was fortunate to spend a couple of seasons with Paul when he was an (assistant) coach with the Suns. I don’t know anyone with a bad word to say about him – ever. A sad day.”
Paul Silas played his college basketball at Creighton, averaging 20.5 points and 21.6 rebounds in three seasons. He was voted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
