NBA insider walks back report Rockets’ Stephen Silas ‘broke down in tears’ amid woeful season

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst walked back comments he made in an article earlier Tuesday that said Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas “broke down in tears” because he felt he couldn’t connect with his players. 

The report stated that Silas, going through a third straight season where the Rockets are at rock bottom compared to the others in the league, had an emotional moment after a game where he felt he wasn’t connecting with his team. 

However, Windhorst issued an apology on Twitter after saying he was confused about a different moment during the 2021 campaign. 

“I regretfully made a mistake in today’s story about Stephen Silas breaking down in tears after a game this season,” Windhorst wrote. “It was inaccurate, I confused details from an emotional news conference in 2021.”

After two seasons as the league’s worst team, the Rockets’ 18-58 record is second-worst in the league right now. Windhorst’s initial report claimed that during a rough stretch, the season was weighing heavy on Silas. 

“Houston lost 18 of 19 games at one point and 11 straight games during another stretch,” Windhorst wrote. “At one point, Silas broke down in tears after a game because he felt he couldn’t reach his players. One of the team’s then veterans, Eric Gordon, said in January “there’s no improvement” when summing up the state of the Rockets — not ideal for a young player trying to find positivity in early struggles.”

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The Rockets do have young talent on their roster, including Jalen Green, who was the second overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft. He’s led the way with 22.0 points averaged per game, while others like Kevin Porter Jr. have added 18.5 points and Jabari Smith Jr., the third overall pick by Houston in last year’s NBA Draft, has done well with 12.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 40.6% from the field. 

But, as Gordon mentioned, he doesn’t feel that there’s any progress being made despite the young talent Houston possesses. 

It’s been that way since the franchise started to transition into a rebuild, which came just prior to James Harden wanting out. Harden was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets, putting the Rockets into full rebuild mode. 

However, with veterans like John Wall publicly saying the Rockets are a “trash” organization while posting the league’s worst record the last two seasons, it’s not a good look for Houston. 

One of the reasons the Rockets don’t have a better record is their lack of defense, which Silas has talked about at length in his post-game pressers. 

“They’re not giving the effort on the defensive end,” he said at one point. 

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The stats prove it as well with a 119.0 defensive rating which ranks 29th in the NBA. The Rockets are also 29th in the league in points scored per game with 110.4. 

Perhaps the Rockets will be able to get their young talent to connect better on both ends of the floor, but this season is already another wash as owner Tilman Fertitta has been thinking about the first overall pick and the prospect of drafting France’s superstar Victor Wembanyama. 

Entering Tuesday, Silas’ career head coaching record with the Rockets is 55-175.