James Silas: “Captain Late” Commanded Respect in the Clutch (Part II)

Author: David Friedman
Published on: Mar 8, 2005

Silas completely recovered from his broken ankle in time for the 1976 preseason. The Spurs seemed poised to be a contender in the merged league but their title chances were dealt a crushing blow when Silas suffered a serious cartilage tear in his knee when he collided with the Kansas City Kings’ Bill Robinzine during a preseason game. Silas recalls, “Really, it was supposed to be plain and simple. They went in there and operated and evidently it wasn’t right (the first time) and they had to go in there again. Back then we didn’t have the workout facilities and the types of things that you can do today, but I’m not mad about it. Back then it took a lot longer to come back and play. It took at least a year and a half out of my career.”

At that time it was thought that a lot of rest was necessary after knee surgery. New York Knicks’ All-Star forward Bernard King, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in 1985, was one of the first athletes to pursue an extremely aggressive rehabilitation program quickly after surgery. Silas reflected on this: “I feel like if I would have known then the things that I know now, I would have worked that thing relentlessly. I was always limited and told the things that I should do and the things that I shouldn’t do. So I just followed the instructions of the medical people. I really liked Bernard King’s career and how he was told that he would never play again and then I saw tapes about how hard he was working. I thought, ‘Wow, if I had done that, I could have come back a lot faster.’”

Silas played 3000+ minutes in each of the three previous seasons, but logged only 667 minutes while participating in 59 of 164 regular season games in 1976-77 and 1977-78. He would never again play more than 2300 minutes in a season. Bob Bass describes how the injury changed Silas’ game: “He just wasn’t as explosive. (Before the injury) he could really elevate when he penetrated. When he drove to the basket he could take a hit and finish the shot as well as anybody I’ve ever seen--maybe the best I’ve ever seen. You could hit him and he was so strong and could elevate so high that he could still finish the shot. He was a great free throw shooter. It’s amazing—George Gervin led the NBA in scoring four times, but he never got to the free throw line as much you’d think he would. He had all of these tricks; he’d move under you or over you. But James Silas could draw a foul as well as anybody who ever played.”

After the merger, Bass left the Spurs’ bench for a front office position with the team. Denver Nuggets’ assistant coach Doug Moe became the Spurs’ head coach. He laments that he only got to see Silas at full strength as an opponent: “My recollections of when he was really great are from before he got hurt, when he was playing against us. He was absolutely the best—the ultimate guy at the end of the game. He was just terrific. Unfortunately, he hurt his knee and was never quite the same—still a great player, but there is no telling how great he would have been had he not gotten hurt. People really didn’t get to know the real Silas in the NBA. That is a shame. He really was ‘Captain Late’ and he was the best.”

In 1978-79 Silas was healthy enough to play a full season. The Spurs started out 14-14 with Silas coming off the bench, but got a big boost when “Captain Late” rejoined the starting lineup and went 34-20 the rest of the way, winning the Central Division title with the second best record in the Eastern Conference. Silas averaged 16.0 ppg and 3.5 apg in the regular season, increasing those numbers to 19.1 ppg and a team leading 4.7 apg in the postseason. The Spurs narrowly missed making it to the NBA Finals, losing to the Washington Bullets in the Eastern Conference Finals. Silas says, “I felt that we could beat those guys, even though they had Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld and an awesome team. We had them down three games to one. I think that the turning point was that Washington got really physical and they had the bodies to do it. We really weren’t a physical team. For some reason our guys were really, really manhandled and we never could overcome what they were doing.”

“Captain Late” had a shot to tie the seventh game at the end of regulation, but did not connect. He thinks that he should have been awarded two free throws: “On the last shot, if you ever see that tape I know—and Elvin Hayes knows—that I was fouled on that shot. I jumped and he jumped and came into my body, but nothing was called. I knew when I saw him running at me that he was out of control and off balance and I knew that I could draw the contact and I did, but there was no call. I got the hit that I wanted, got the shot off, but nothing was called.”

Silas’ numbers improved to 17.7 ppg and 4.5 apg in 1979-80, his second full season back from the knee injury—but the Spurs slipped to 41-41 and lost two games to one in a first round mini-series versus the Houston Rockets. In 1980-81 the NBA added an expansion team in Dallas and shifted some teams to different divisions. The Spurs moved from the Eastern Conference’s Central Division to the Western Conference’s Midwest Division. The Spurs also hired a new coach, Stan Albeck. Silas averaged 17.7 ppg and 3.8 apg in 1980-81 and the Spurs bounced back to a 52-30 record, claiming the Midwest Division title—but Houston spoiled the Spurs’ outstanding season by winning game seven of the Western Conference Semifinals in San Antonio, 110-105.

The Spurs made significant roster changes after this heartbreaking loss, including a trade that sent Silas to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Silas played one season for the Cavaliers before retiring with 10-year professional averages of 16.1 ppg and 3.8 apg; he shot .495 from the field and .855 from the free throw line. On April 15, 1983 James Silas was selected to the Spurs’ All-Decade Team, along with George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, Mike Mitchell and Mark Olberding. The Spurs retired Silas’ number 13 on February 28, 1984. He was the first Spur and second Texas pro basketball player to have his number retired (the Houston Rockets retired Rudy Tomjanovich’s number 45 on Jan. 28, 1982).

Part III looks at Silas’ playing style and the legacy of the ABA