Luke Walton has been fired in Sacramento. Frank Vogel’s seat is getting warm with the Lakers.
Another name rumored to be on the hot seat is Stephen Silas, head coach of the 2-16 Rockets. Silas, however, is not stressing about those rumors, reports Jackson Gatlin.
Stephen Silas: “I don’t need like, approval. I believe in what I do. I think I’m good at it. The players respond when I challenge them or coach them. Whether we won or lost tonight, I’m the same coach.”
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) November 25, 2021
Silas, who grew up around the NBA, understands the soap opera nature of it — this is entertainment and people like to argue about it. Silas also told the Houston Chronicle that he knows who he is and what he wants to do and will stick with it.
“I’m going to coach these guys as hard as I can. I’m going to do the things that I believe in. I’m going to do them in a way that is smart — that I feel is smart — and a way that is well-thought-through. And if it works out, it works out. I’ve been waiting too long for this not to do it in an honest way. So, yeah, I get it. I totally get it. But I’ve been there before, I grew up in it, and this is the job I wanted. This is where I want to be, so we’ll just go from there.”
Silas was hired to coach a team with Russell Westbrook and James Harden, a team that was thinking contention. However, before he had coached 10 NBA games Harden was traded to Brooklyn and Houston was pivoting toward rebuilding. The job in Houston now is radically different than the one Silas was hired for.
The Rockets have looked disorganized, but the focus needs to be on player development. If the Rockets fire Silas, who will they hire that changes the player development curve mid-season? Frankly, it’s too early to answer the question, “how much better is Jalen Green getting?”
However, logic and coaching changes do not always go hand-in-hand in the NBA.
