Stephen Silas
Stephen Silas is an American basketball coach. He is the son of NBA star player and head coach Paul Silas.
He worked under his father at the Charlotte Hornets from 2000 to 2002, New Orleans Hornets from 2002 to 2003, and the Cleveland Cavaliers from 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 in Charlotte where he worked from 2010 until 2018. He was head coach of the Rockets from 2020 to 2023.
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 26.
Early career
Silas was born in Boston, and grew up in Boston and New York City. He attended John Jay High School in Cross River, New York, while his father served as an assistant coach for the New York Knicks. He played a postgraduate year of basketball at St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Connecticut. Silas graduated from Brown University in 1996 with bachelor's degrees in sociology and management. While studying, he played four seasons for the 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 in Providence, Rhode Island.Coaching career
Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets (2000–2002)
Silas also spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets while his father, Paul Silas, was coaching the team. 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.Cleveland Cavaliers (2003–2005)
Silas spent five seasons on the coaching staffs of his father with the Cleveland Cavaliers and both Hornets' franchises. He 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.Golden State Warriors (2006–2010)
Prior to joining the Warriors, Silas served as an advance scout for the Washington Wizards during the 2005–06 season. Silas spent more than five years coaching with the Golden State Warriors. 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 future two-time MVP Stephen Curry. He also served as the head coach for the Warriors' Summer League entry in Las Vegas.Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets (2010–2018)
In December 2010, he joined the Charlotte Bobcats after his father became interim head coach of the team. During the 2011–12 season, on several occasions Silas served as the head coach for the Charlotte Bobcats.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. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Silas emerged as a leading candidate to fill the head coaching position for the Houston Rockets, although Mike D'Antoni ended up getting the job.
On December 4, 2017, Silas filled in as head coach of the Hornets when Steve Clifford became ill, and continued to do so until Clifford returned on January 16, 2018.