Stephen Silas was an NBA assistant for two decades from 2000-20, spending time in Charlotte, New Orleans, Cleveland, Golden State, and Dallas, establishing himself as a legitimate head coaching candidate and eventually being hired by Houston to fill that role.
However, Silas’ three-year stint with the Rockets didn’t go well. His .250 winning percentage (on a 59-177 record) is the worst in NBA history among 168 coaches with at least 200 games under their belts. His next stop wasn’t any better, as he spent the 2023/24 season as an assistant to Monty Williams on the 14-68 Pistons. Having been let go along with Williams this past offseason, Silas is coaching Team USA’s AmeriCup qualifying roster as he resets following a challenging few years.
“I’ve been enjoying the family time, and it’s important because, like, obviously my dad (former NBA player and coach Paul Silas) passed a couple years ago, and now I have a daughter who is a senior in high school, and I can actually go to the parent-teacher conferences and be there when she comes home and be there for homecoming and stuff like that,” Silas said, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “It is really cool at a time that I probably needed to have after three years in Houston, one year in Detroit which wasn’t very successful. Kind of like take a step back, enjoy the fam’, do the USA thing. It’s really cathartic for me.”
As Vardon writes, a successful stint with USA Basketball could revitalize Silas’ stock and help him earn a new NBA role in 2025. Some of his players, such as Robert Covington and Frank Kaminsky, are also viewing their time with Team USA not just as an opportunity to represent their country but as a chance to show NBA teams they’re still capable of contributing.
“This is a great opportunity just to show people that I’m healthy,” Covington said. “I’ve got four or five years left of basketball in me.”
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Mike Shearer of HoopsHype takes a look at 12 players who have significantly increased their shooting efficiency so far this season. As Shearer cautions, there’s no guarantee those players will maintain their efficiency spikes all season, but there are some interesting names on this list, including a handful who will be eligible for rookie scale extensions next summer (Christian Braun, Ochai Agbaji, and Bennedict Mathurin) and trade candidates like Nets teammates Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith.
- Warner Bros. Discovery – the parent company of TNT Sports – has been sued by investors who claim the company mischaracterized the impact that losing its NBA rights beginning in 2025 would have on its business. Winston Cho of The Hollywood Reporter has the story.
- Danny Leroux of The Athletic looks ahead to next summer and previews the top players in the NBA’s 2025 free agent class, starting with stars like LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Brandon Ingram, and James Harden. Leroux also singles out Pacers center Myles Turner as a fascinating free agent to watch, since he has a coveted skill set for a big man and will be very much in his prime when he reaches the open market at age 29.
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