Know what NBA legend Paul Silas told LeBron James in his rookie years when LBJ played for the Cleveland Cavaliers
On Sunday, NBA legend and three-time NBA champion Paul Silas died at the age of 79. The news of his death was announced by Paul Silas’ family.
Furthermore, Paul Silas’ daughter, Paula Silas-Guy informed that her father died Saturday night of cardiac arrest, as per The New York Times.
Paul Silas has left behind his son, Stephen Silas, and her daughter, Paula Silas-Guy. He is also survived by his wife, Carolyn (Kemp) Silas, whom he married in 1966; a stepdaughter, Donna Turner, from Ms. Silas’s first marriage; three grandchildren; and two step-grandchildren.
Also, Silas was born on July 12, 1943, in Prescott, Arkansas, and at age 8 moved to Oakland, California, with his parents, Leon and Clara, and two brothers.
Silas played 16 seasons in the NBA. He was a five-time all-defensive team selection who averaged 9.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in his NBA career. Also, Silas was drafted in the 1964 NBA Draft by the St. Louis Hawks.
He played for St. Louis Hawks / Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and Seattle Supersonics.
Further, Silas won two titles with the Boston Celtics — the first coming in his 10th season as a player — and claimed a third with the Seattle SuperSonics. He also became a two-time NBA All-Star.
Notably, Silas retired at the age of 36; he was then the NBA’s oldest player when he retired.
After his playing days were over, Silas took up coaching job in the NBA. As a coach, Silas began his career as a head coach in 1980 with a three-year stint leading the then-San Diego Clippers (now Los Angeles Clippers).
Then, after spending more than a decade as an assistant coach for several NBA teams, he returned to being a head coach and spent time with the Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Charlotte Bobcats.
During his tenure as a head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Paul Silas learned many things while managing the future superstar, LeBron James.
In a 2015 interview with the Boston Globe, Silas recalled all the valuable lessons that he learned while coaching then-Cavs rookie LeBron James.
Now that Silas has passed away, the old interview has resurfaced in which Paul Silas taught LeBron a valuable lesson.
LeBron James, who was brilliant beyond his years, was frustrated by the enormous responsibility of having to turn around an NBA team that hadn’t had a winning season since the late 1990s, when Danny Ferry, Shawn Kemp, and a rookie Zydrunas Ilgauskas played there.
“I would have to get him and tell him these things are going to happen to you, but you can’t think about this,” Paul Silas told the Boston Globe. “You’ve got to play the game and understand it’s up to you if we’re going to win. You have to play hard and your mind has to be right.
“That’s when he really started to change.”
Paul Silas claimed that before the start of the 2004-05 NBA season, LBJ learned the Cavs’ entire offensive and defensive schemes.
Silas also tweaked his abilities and responsibilities as a coach because in his hand he had LBJ, who is once-in-a-generation NBA prospect. Silas promptly changed his ways to harness the full potential of LeBron James, and it worked well.
“I didn’t have a point guard,” Paul Silas said. “So I made him my point forward.”
The changes brought about in LeBron James’ rookie year seemed almost immediate, and the change even found ways to carry over into a stellar second season.
LBJ was an exponential increase in nearly every statistical category from one year to the next, averaging nearly seven more points per game, two more rebounds, and 1.3 more assists than he had his rookie year.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Paul Silas said. “He wasn’t only 19 years old at the time, but he understood everything about this game. Eventually, I knew he was going to be a great player.
“Now, he is just tremendous.”
Given LeBron James’ legacy, Silas’ words stand true. The Los Angeles Lakers star really is ‘tremendous.’
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