Rockets And Stephen Silas To Part Ways After Three Seasons
HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets and coach Stephen Silas have parted ways, as first reported by The Athletic. The news of Silas' jettison came following the Rockets' 114-109 season finale against the Washington Wizards on Sunday.
"This is a hard job, and there have been some down moments that I’ve had to fight through the last three years," Silas said. "I found strength in myself that I didn’t necessarily know that I had. I found that I can bring a group together. I found that I can help young guys with not just basketball but with life. You never know until you do it."
Silas' first head coaching opportunity with the Rockets became a 180 from the job he accepted in October 2020. Silas vowed he wasn't a rebuilding coach, but the departure of James Harden and Russell Westbrook thrust him into an unfortunate situation.
The Rockets have gone through a youth movement since losing a pair of future Hall-of-Famers. And following Sunday's last regular season game, Silas won 59 out of 236 games.
Silas did not get a chance to enjoy too many wins during his coaching tenure in Houston. But finishing the year strong for their head coach drove the Rockets to close the season with nine wins since March 4.
"When he is talking to us, he's telling us how much we mean to him and how much we need to stay together," Jalen Green said. "We gotta be there for him. We gotta get dubs for him. And we gotta play hard for him."
Before becoming the 15th coach in franchise history, Silas began his career as an assistant under his dad, Paul Silas, with the Charlotte Hornets during the 1999-00 season.
He later served as an assistant coach with the New Orleans Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks.
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