Former NBA player coach Paul Silas dies at 79

• Former NBA player and head coach Paul Silas has passed on his family, confirming the news
• Silas is the father of the current Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas
• Paul Silas coached several NBA teams, including Cleaveland Cavaliers, and New Orleans Hornets, among others

Former NBA player and coach Paul Silas has died. His family announced his passing on Sunday. Silas significantly impacted the game as a player, coach, and president of the National Basketball Players Association. The Houston Rockets’ head coach Stephen Silas’ father, Silas, was 79 years old.

The New York Times was informed by Paula Silas-Guy, Silas’ daughter, that her father passed away from a heart arrest on Saturday night.

“He combined the knowledge developed over nearly 40 years as an NBA player and coach with an innate understanding of how to mix discipline with his never-ending positivity,” Charlotte Hornets chairman Michael Jordan said. “On or off the court, 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.”

Paul Silas led three NBA teams to the playoffs as a head coach. | PHOTO: Los Angeles Times |

“We mourn the passing of former NBA All-Star and head coach Paul Silas,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “Paul’s lasting contributions to the game are seen through the many players and coaches he inspired, including his son, Rockets head coach Stephen Silas. We send our deepest condolences to Paul’s family.”

As pre-match moments of silence were observed in Houston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and other cities, tributes started to arrive swiftly. Suns coach Monty Williams and Hornets coach Steve Clifford extensively discussed the impact of Silas on their respective careers.

In 1980, Silas took over as the head coach of the then-San Diego Clippers for three years, launching his career as a head coach. He spent time as the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Charlotte Bobcats after more than a decade as an assistant.

By winning exactly 400 games—387 during the regular season and 13 more during the postseason—he led four of those clubs to the playoffs.

How long his son Stephen Silas would be gone from the team was not immediately known.

The Houston Rockets played the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night, winning 97-92. The team was under John Lucas’ interim leadership.

Beginning as an advance scout and subsequently working as an assistant on his father’s staff with the Hornets in 2000, Stephen Silas entered the NBA during the time that his father was coaching in Charlotte. Stephen Silas had to wait 20 years for the opportunity to become a head coach; Houston gave it to him in 2020.

Paul Silas won three NBA titles as a player in his career. | PHOTO: Celtics |

Before obtaining his big chance, Stephen Silas persevered for a very long period. He witnessed his father patiently waiting for the position he desired as well. After being sacked by the San Diego Clippers in 1983, Paul Silas didn’t have another head-coaching opportunity until Dave Cowens, for whom he had served as an assistant, resigned from Charlotte in 1999 following a 4-11 start to the abbreviated 1998–99 season.

Eventually, Silas would take over in Cleveland. He got there in 2003, the same year the Cavaliers drafted LeBron James, who has called Silas “one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever been around.”

“Every time I would go back to Charlotte, he would always come to the games, and I would always try to look for him in the crowd,” James said Sunday night. “To hear that news is very sad for myself and my teammates who played for Coach Silas throughout those years in Cleveland. And our well wishes and our hearts go out to the Silas family, that’s for sure.”

Before obtaining his big chance, Stephen Silas persevered for a very long period. He witnessed his father patiently waiting for the position he desired as well. After being sacked by the San Diego Clippers in 1983, Paul Silas didn’t have another head-coaching opportunity until Dave Cowens, for whom he had served as an assistant, resigned from Charlotte in 1999 following a 4-11 start to the abbreviated 1998–99 season.