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Stephen Curry rooting for Stephen Silas to succeed with Rockets

ben dubose
·3 min read

When Stephen Curry entered the NBA in 2009, one of the assistant coaches for the Golden State Warriors was current Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas. Now, more than a decade later — with Curry a two-time league MVP and three-time champion — the seven-time All-Star looks back on his time with Silas as key to his development.

Once Saturday’s game between the Warriors and Rockets went final, Curry and Silas embraced and shared a conversation. In a subsequent interview with reporters, Curry explained the nature of his relationship with Silas and why he’s cheering for Silas to win big in Houston.

Among Curry’s comments:

Coach Silas is always good in my book. We watched so much film my rookie year. He helped me understand what it meant to be a pro and see the game as a point guard, and deal with some of the uncertainty that was going around the Warriors back then in ’09.

He’s such a good, solid dude, he shoots it to you straight, very approachable. He made me very comfortable asking questions and learning. He pushed me, too.

Things kind of clicked halfway through my rookie year. A lot of that was because of the constant work that we put in behind the scenes. I know he’s got a lot of experience since then, but he hasn’t changed in terms of his personality, and that will hopefully get them to a place they (the Rockets) can turn the tide.

I told him after the game I was excited that he’s in that head seat. It’s been a long time coming. That story is going to be awesome to watch unfold. I’m rooting for him.

Saturday’s loss to the Warriors dropped Silas and the Rockets to 16-48, which is the NBA’s worst record in the 2020-21 season. However, that mark is largely due to factors well out of Silas’ control, such as the offseason trade requests by former MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook and an incredible amount of player injuries.

Regarding his conversation on the Toyota Center court with Curry, Houston’s first-year head coach said:

He was just saying how happy he was for me and looking forward to seeing the turnaround when it happens here in Houston under my leadership. He’s great. We went through times back when we were kind of going through this point his rookie year. To see where he’s come from there to where he is now, MVPs and leading the team, it’s hard to see when you’re the coach of the opposing team, but he’s just a great person and a great player.

Over the years, there’s been quite a rivalry between Curry and the Rockets, who faced off four times in the playoffs over a five-year span from 2015 through 2019. All four postseason series were won by the Warriors, which might make it a bit easier for Curry to be gracious.

Regardless, Silas is undoubtedly pleased to have one of the NBA’s top stars of this generation firmly in his corner.

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