Stephen Silas has plenty of reasons why he wanted to coach for USA Basketball in the qualifying rounds of the FIBA AmeriCup tournament.
Among them his father.
Paul Silas died two years ago and, despite a long career as an NBA coach, he never got the chance to be part of the national team. So, when USA Basketball called his son about this opportunity - games Friday and Monday in Washington, then two more qualifying games in February likely with a different roster - he jumped at the chance.
"I'm coaching Team USA, which is amazing," Stephen Silas said. "That's one part of it. And the other part of it is my dad never was on Team USA. He played in the league for 16 years, coached for 30 years and all that. And, unfortunately, he passed away, but I know he would be super proud that I'm coaching this team."
AmeriCup is the championship of the FIBA Americas region, and the U.S. is trying to qualify for the tournament that will be held next year in Nicaragua. The Americans play Puerto Rico on Friday and Bahamas on Monday, then go on the road to face those teams again Feb. 20 and 23. Silas will return for those games, though it's unknown how many players from this roster will be back for that window.
