Paul Silas, 3-time NBA titlist, longtime coach, dead at 79

Paul Silas, who played on three NBA championship teams and was LeBron James’ first coach in the pros, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 79.

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The family announced Silas’ death through the Houston Rockets, for whom Silas’ son, Stephen, is coach, ESPN reported.

“The Fertitta Family and the Rockets organization are deeply saddened by the passing of Paul Silas, father of Rockets head coach Stephen Silas,” the team tweeted. “Our heartfelt thoughts are with Stephen and his family during this difficult time.”

Paul Silas spent 16 years in the NBA playing for five different teams, according to Basketball-Reference.com. The power forward was a second-round pick of the St. Louis Hawks in the 1964 NBA Draft and spent five seasons with the franchise, including its first season in Atlanta in 1968-69. He also played three seasons with the Phoenix Suns, four with the Boston Celtics, one with the Denver Nuggets and his final three years with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Silas was a two-time All-Star and a five-time All-Defensive selection, The Athletic reported. That included first-team selections in 1975 and 1976 with the Celtics.

Silas was a member of the Celtics’ NBA championship teams in 1974 and 1976, and he was part of the SuperSonics’ championship squad in 1979.

Silas scored 11,782 points and had 12,357 rebounds. The 6-foot-7, 220-pounder also blocked 138 shots.

Silas was one of 15 players with 10,000 points and rebounds after he played his final NBA season in 1980. Twelve of the other 14 players on that list are Hall of Famers, according to The Athletic.

He retired after the 1979-80 season, having averaged 9.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 1,254 career games, according to Sports Illustrated.

Silas was a head coach for 12 seasons, starting with the San Diego Clippers for three years beginning in 1980. After spending nearly a decade as an assistant, Silas took over the Charlotte Hornets during the 1998-1999 season and spent four seasons coaching the franchise, including its first season in New Orleans.

He coached the Cavaliers for two seasons and then returned to Charlotte in 2010 to coach the Bobcats for two years.

Silas coached James in 2003, the year the NBA star was drafted.

“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.”

Silas took four of those teams to the playoffs, winning 400 games -- 387 in the regular season and 13 more in the postseason, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

“Paul made a huge contribution to the game of basketball and will be sorely missed!” Hall of Fame guard and Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson tweeted.

Silas came to the NBA from Creighton and set an NCAA record for the most rebounds across three seasons, according to Sports Illustrated. He averaged a nation-leading 20.6 rebounds per game during 1962-63 season.

Silas was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, and his No. 35 jersey is retired by Creighton.

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