BEIJING, (Reuters) – LeBron James is now such a dominant force in the NBA that he has the potential to become only the second player to average a triple-double over an entire season, according to his former coach at the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While James was starting his almost single-handed attempt to drag the Cavaliers into the NBA Finals against the Orlando Magic last week, Paul Silas was running drills with Chinese teenagers in a Beijing gymnasium.
Taking a break from the session, Silas said James had made remarkable progress since he arrived in the NBA and was now a threat to Oscar Robertson’s 1961-2 record as the only player to average double figures in points, rebounds and assists.
“He’s really been sensational, he’s grown so much since I’ve had him,” the 65-year-old told Reuters on the sidelines of the Adidas Nations training camp. “I knew he was going to be a great player, but not to the extent he has gone to. He’s just a dominant figure who, in my opinion, can average a triple double one of these years.”
Silas, who coached this year’s MVP in his first two seasons in the league, said one decision he had almost been forced into making had greatly benefited the young James.
“He was 18 and very raw, had never played in the NBA before and didn’t really understand our game totally, the way he does now,” Silas recalled.
“But I made him my point forward, I didn’t really have a point guard at the time. I think that really helped him because he had to make decisions and look for other players as well as himself and I think he did it really well.
“Then we got Jeff McInnis on our ball club and he moved to his natural position and really began to blossom.”
GREAT STRIDES
James’s renowned dedication to improving his game impressed Silas upon his return for the 2004-2005 season.
“In the second year I had him, you could see the strides he had made over the summer when he came back,” he said.
“It was so interesting because he knew every play, he knew where everybody was supposed to be, it only took him one year.
“And that’s just how amazing this young man is, he’s the best player in the league right now.” Silas, who lost his job at the Cavaliers in 2005 despite a winning season and has not coached at the top level since, said he took pride in the part he had played in bringing James on. “I really led him in the right way,” he said. “He had to become more proficient in his game. He didn’t shoot outside shots very well when I had him but he can make those shots now.
“He would go to the basket and avoid contact, we talked about it, now he goes in ducking on people, gets up and shoots two free throws.
“The thing that I like about him most is that he guards the opponent’s best player now so that shows the maturity that he has.” This was a nostalgic trip for Silas, who toured a very different China in an NBA team alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1980s.
The interpreter following him around the gymnasium to translate his instructions into Mandarin also recalled one of his most famous encounters with the media in his time as Cavaliers coach.
In 2004, growing exasperated with a reporter who refused to accept that he did not want to talk about the benching of a player, Silas blurted out: “Jesus, am I speaking Chinese?”.
“That was a spur of the moment comment and I’m not really sorry for it, it was just one of those things,” he laughed, adding he was now belatedly trying to pick up a few words of the local language.
“We’re trying to learn as much terminology of the game as much as we can, get back, offense, defence, hussle. But it is tough.”
