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http://grantland.com/features/paul-...bcats-lenny-wilkens-dave-cowens-bill-russell/
Pretty good read. I learned a lot about him that I didn't know before. Here's some of the article, you can read the rest at the link:
There is not much to see on the drive from Charlotte to the western banks of Lake Norman along North Carolina Highway 16. Around a few bends and past a couple of empty fields, a community springs up where the homes resemble castles and the lake is the backyard. Paul Silas settled here before Michael Jordan appointed him four years ago to coach the Bobcats (rechristened this year as the Hornets). Before getting the job, Silas had been attending games as a fan and built a relationship with Jordan, the team owner. “You know, you might become the coach,” Jordan once said, and Silas wrote it off as polite flattery. Until he got the job.
The appointment made sense. It’s hard to think of another NBA figure who can match Silas’s résumé, his connections, his longevity, and his influence within the league. Over a career that has spanned six decades in the NBA, Silas’s experiences have run the gamut of success and failure. As a player, he won championships with the 1974 and 1976 Boston Celtics, where he was an interior force alongside John Havlicek and Dave Cowens. He won another title with the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics, where Silas served as the veteran sage on a team led by the backcourt of Dennis Johnson and Gus Williams. Silas was an undersize, relentless rebounder at 6-foot-7, a rugged forward who embraced his era’s physical style of play and still ranks among the league’s all-time rebounding leaders. As a coach, Silas had the misfortune of being at the helm of the 2011-12 Bobcats group that bumbled its way to an NBA-worst 7-59 record during the lockout-shortened season.
Most of the game’s one-namers — Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Jordan, Kobe, and LeBron — have crossed paths with Silas in one way or another. The NBA has undergone dramatic changes since Silas entered the league in 1964, and he has witnessed it all. His memories span from the time in his rookie year when St. Louis Hawks general manager Marty Blake told Silas he could sign with the Harlem Globetrotters if he wanted to hold out for a salary increase from $9,000 to $10,000, to the time Silas coached Cleveland some 40 years later and confronted a disgruntled player by calling him a “hip-hop motherfucker.”
On a recent afternoon in his Lake Norman backyard, Silas kicked back and reflected on his career. “I’m 71 and I don’t remember names that good,” he said before launching into vivid recollections of the stories and names from all corners of the NBA, past and present. He was the coach of the San Diego Clippers in 1981 when a businessman named Donald Sterling purchased the franchise. At the introductory press conference, Sterling promised to construct a winner. The Clippers were cruising to a win over Houston on opening night in 1981 when Silas noticed Sterling approaching him with 11 seconds left to play. The elated owner had dropped his coat and unbuttoned his shirt halfway down his chest. “He ran across the court and jumped in my arms,” Silas recalled. “I said, ‘What are you doing? You don’t do this.’ They gave a technical foul, but [the Rockets] couldn’t beat us anyway.”
Was that the most memorable moment of Silas’s career? No, it wasn’t even the most eventful part of his time coaching Sterling’s team.
“You’ve just got to be positive,” Silas said, distilling the wisdom he’s built over the years into a simple motto. “Players and coaches look at basketball and they don’t think it’s a business, but things happen. Whether you believe they’re right or not, things happen. And you can’t be negative. You’ve got to believe that something else is going to come about and you’re going to make it.”
Pretty good read. I learned a lot about him that I didn't know before. Here's some of the article, you can read the rest at the link:
There is not much to see on the drive from Charlotte to the western banks of Lake Norman along North Carolina Highway 16. Around a few bends and past a couple of empty fields, a community springs up where the homes resemble castles and the lake is the backyard. Paul Silas settled here before Michael Jordan appointed him four years ago to coach the Bobcats (rechristened this year as the Hornets). Before getting the job, Silas had been attending games as a fan and built a relationship with Jordan, the team owner. “You know, you might become the coach,” Jordan once said, and Silas wrote it off as polite flattery. Until he got the job.
The appointment made sense. It’s hard to think of another NBA figure who can match Silas’s résumé, his connections, his longevity, and his influence within the league. Over a career that has spanned six decades in the NBA, Silas’s experiences have run the gamut of success and failure. As a player, he won championships with the 1974 and 1976 Boston Celtics, where he was an interior force alongside John Havlicek and Dave Cowens. He won another title with the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics, where Silas served as the veteran sage on a team led by the backcourt of Dennis Johnson and Gus Williams. Silas was an undersize, relentless rebounder at 6-foot-7, a rugged forward who embraced his era’s physical style of play and still ranks among the league’s all-time rebounding leaders. As a coach, Silas had the misfortune of being at the helm of the 2011-12 Bobcats group that bumbled its way to an NBA-worst 7-59 record during the lockout-shortened season.
Most of the game’s one-namers — Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Jordan, Kobe, and LeBron — have crossed paths with Silas in one way or another. The NBA has undergone dramatic changes since Silas entered the league in 1964, and he has witnessed it all. His memories span from the time in his rookie year when St. Louis Hawks general manager Marty Blake told Silas he could sign with the Harlem Globetrotters if he wanted to hold out for a salary increase from $9,000 to $10,000, to the time Silas coached Cleveland some 40 years later and confronted a disgruntled player by calling him a “hip-hop motherfucker.”
On a recent afternoon in his Lake Norman backyard, Silas kicked back and reflected on his career. “I’m 71 and I don’t remember names that good,” he said before launching into vivid recollections of the stories and names from all corners of the NBA, past and present. He was the coach of the San Diego Clippers in 1981 when a businessman named Donald Sterling purchased the franchise. At the introductory press conference, Sterling promised to construct a winner. The Clippers were cruising to a win over Houston on opening night in 1981 when Silas noticed Sterling approaching him with 11 seconds left to play. The elated owner had dropped his coat and unbuttoned his shirt halfway down his chest. “He ran across the court and jumped in my arms,” Silas recalled. “I said, ‘What are you doing? You don’t do this.’ They gave a technical foul, but [the Rockets] couldn’t beat us anyway.”
Was that the most memorable moment of Silas’s career? No, it wasn’t even the most eventful part of his time coaching Sterling’s team.
“You’ve just got to be positive,” Silas said, distilling the wisdom he’s built over the years into a simple motto. “Players and coaches look at basketball and they don’t think it’s a business, but things happen. Whether you believe they’re right or not, things happen. And you can’t be negative. You’ve got to believe that something else is going to come about and you’re going to make it.”
