Key takeaways from Rockets’ exclusive Stephen Silas documentary

The Rockets published their “Ready to Lead” documentary on head coach Stephen Silas. Here’s a look at the video and some of its highlights.

The Rockets published a team-made documentary on Friday examining the NBA career of head coach Stephen Silas. Titled “Ready to Lead,” the half-hour film features exclusive interviews and a behind-the-scenes look at his first season in Houston and two decades in the NBA.

Regarding the challenge of being a first-time head coach for the rebuilding Rockets in the 2020-21 season, Silas said in the film:

The losses get to me, and they’re hard. But the challenge is, ‘Okay, what’s the message going to be tomorrow to the group? How can I lift this in a way that’s making it a positive for the group?’

While working with his father, former Charlotte head coach Paul Silas, Stephen had a close look at tragedy when veteran Hornets guard Bobby Phills died in a car accident after practice. To this day, Stephen says the aftermath of that incident offers perspective when times are hard.

“That moment right there, the Bobby Phills moment, was huge to me,” Silas said. “Watching those players grind through that season and make the playoffs. They lost in the first round, and you could see after the first round, they had given it their all. The adversity that you face in an NBA season, I feel like it doesn’t get much worse than that.”

Other notable exchanges during the documentary involved anecdotes from Silas’ two decades in scouting or assistant roles. Early on, Silas said having his father as the head coach was a big help in learning the ropes.

My dad was my No. 1 mentor, and someone I could lean on and ask questions. To have a boss that you could ask questions, even dumb questions, was big.

He asked questions of me, and really valued my opinion — which was kind of weird, with me being so young and not having much experience — but he would lean on me.

Unfortunately, Stephen lost his first two jobs when his father was let go by Charlotte/New Orleans and Cleveland. From there, the younger Silas knew it was time to forge his own path — which he did as a scout in Washington and as an assistant coach for many years in Golden State.

I knew that I needed to kind of branch off, away from my dad. I was kind of pigeon-holed, and everybody saw me as my dad’s son. I had to really go through the Roladex, and go through my phone, and who I knew and who could help me get an assistant coaching job.

On coaching Stephen Curry as a rookie with the Warriors, and how Silas helped develop his famed two-ball dribbling routine:

He was from Charlotte, and I had spent a lot of time in Charlotte. My dad coached his dad. We had a lot of connections, a lot of people we knew in common.

So every single day, we were in the gym, working on whatever. He would be at my house. The two-ball dribbling stuff, we started that together, and he was bouncing it off his foot. Now I laugh, when people are coming to the gym early to watch him do his two-ball dribbling.

They knew he could shoot, but they thought he was slow and small. But he got his body together, he got his mind right, and he was just a pleasure to coach.

After those years with the Warriors, Silas returned to Charlotte for another brief run alongside his father. For Paul, that was his final NBA job, which made it significant for Stephen to be with him for what became the swan song of his career. But unlike previous stints, Stephen managed to retain his spot on the coaching staff for the ensuing administration. Over the next few years, Steve Clifford gave Silas increasing responsibility, including the associate head coach title before the 2016-17 season.

Once Clifford was let go after 2017-18, Silas moved on to Dallas, where he had the opportunity to work as the lead assistant to renowned NBA head coach Rick Carlisle. Here’s what Silas said about his experience with Carlisle and young superstar Luka Doncic in Dallas, which helped position Silas for his long-desired leading role with the Rockets.

I had the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator for [Carlisle]. Luka was a rookie. When we got [Kristaps] Porzingis, we were able to play five-out and get the ball moving, and let Luka play to all of the greatness that he has.

We went from a middle-of-the-road offensive team, to the best offensive team in the history of the NBA.

After that 2019-20 season, Silas said his family was more confident than he was that he would ultimately be named as Houston’s head coach.

They were like, ‘This is the one. We feel it. This is a great situation for you, a great organization, a championship organization.’

I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ve had perfect fits before.’ I’ve interviewed, and this and that. I just didn’t know what the criteria was going to be.

When it happened and he got the call from general manager Rafael Stone offering him the job in Houston, Silas said his family members were “screaming at the top of their lungs.” He immediately called his parents on FaceTime to deliver the news and thank them for their support.

“I was emotional because of all the hard work that I had put into it,” Silas said of his reaction. “That was like a surreal moment. That just made me happy, just to see the happiness of the people around me.”

The complete film on Silas, who was born into a basketball-centric life when his father played for the Boston Celtics, can be viewed below.

As for today, Silas is preparing for his second season in charge. “Every day I come in, and I’m happy to be the head coach of the Rockets,” he said. “All the years of grinding through. There’s so many different things that led me to this point, and helped me craft my style of leadership. I look back on those days fondly, and I know they prepared me for this situation.”

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