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NBA Championship-winning coach Paul Silas has passed away at the age of 79. The father of Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas, Paul Silas was a former player and the first coach of LeBron James in the NBA. The news of his death was announced by his family through the Houston Rockets organization. The cause of death has not been officially disclosed.

Paul Silas began his coaching career in 1980 with the San Diego Clippers, where he spent three years. After more than a decade as an assistant coach, he returned to head coaching positions with the Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Charlotte Bobcats. He led four of these teams to the playoffs and won a total of 400 games, including 387 regular-season wins and 13 postseason victories.

Silas made significant contributions to the sport of basketball and will be deeply missed. Former NBA guard Magic Johnson tweeted, "Paul made a tremendous impact on the game of basketball. We will miss him dearly!"

The Houston Rockets faced the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday evening, but it is unclear how long Stephen Silas will be away from the team. The Rockets plan to have John Lucas temporarily lead the team while Silas mourns with his family.

Stephen Silas entered the NBA world when his father was coaching in Charlotte. He started as a senior scout and eventually became an assistant coach for his father's team in 2000. It took him twenty years to finally get an opportunity to become a head coach, and he was hired by the Houston Rockets in 2020.

"My father was obviously my first mentor, and I could help him," Stephen Silas said in a documentary about his coaching journey with the Rockets in 2021. "He really valued my input, which was strange for me because I was young and didn't have much experience."

Stephen Silas had to wait a long time for his big opportunity, just like his father did. Paul Silas was fired by the San Diego Clippers in 1983 and didn't get another head coaching job until 1999 when Dave Cowens, whom Paul Silas had been an assistant for, was fired by the Charlotte Hornets after a 4-11 start to the season.

"I was considered a guy who didn't work hard, who didn't try hard, who didn't care when I was an assistant coach, and that really hurt me," Paul Silas said during a speech at a Rotary Club in Charlotte in 2013. "For about ten years when I couldn't get a head job," he continued. "I did talk to teams about being a head coach, but I didn't get it. What happened was I stayed positive. I had a positive attitude. Even though I didn't get that job, I said, 'No, I'm not going to be negative. I'm going to stay positive.'"

Eventually, Silas would accept a position in Cleveland. He arrived there in 2003, the same year the Cavaliers drafted LeBron James.

"I coached LeBron for two years, his first two years, and he was incredible," Paul Silas said. "At 18 years old, he knew Bill Russell; he knew players that guys his age didn't even know about. He understood the game. I made LeBron a point guard/forward because that's what he started out as when I got him. He didn't say anything to me. He just took over games, and we did well."

Given time, James would go on to become a champion himself. It took Paul Silas several years as a player to reach that level as well. He was selected to the All-Defensive Team five times during his career with the St. Louis Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns (twice), Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and Seattle SuperSonics. Silas won two championships with the Celtics - his first championship in his tenth season - and won his third championship with the SuperSonics in the 1976 NBA Finals against the Celtics.

"Paul Silas is a giant in the basketball world," former NBA player Rex Chapman wrote on Twitter on Sunday. "A great man. I had the privilege of spending several seasons with Paul when he was an (assistant) coach with the Suns. Never heard anyone say a bad word about him - ever. Sad day."

Paul Silas played college basketball at Creighton University for three seasons, averaging 20.5 points and 21.6 rebounds per game. He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

Upon hearing of Paul Silas' passing, the NBA family paid tribute to him on Sunday. "He [Paul Silas] combined nearly four decades worth of knowledge as both an NBA player and coach with an unrelenting positivity that endeared him to players and staff alike," said Michael Jordan, Chairman of the Charlotte Hornets, who shared stories about former coach Paul Silas