Kobe was a great player, but as a teammate he never really understood how to connect with the younger guys. He expected everyone to be as intense as him, not everyone responds to the same type of coaching, if it were the military sure you can be a drill sergeant, but we are talking about multi millionaire gen z kids here. Kobe's mamba mentality essentially ended his life early, because he valued efficiency in his schedule over safety. Not everyone is built for this level of intensity, you can bring this intensity in a game without having to be like that 24/7.
To answer your question, we don't know all the details and will probably never know them all. That said, when a highly emotional young kid that clearly has suffered from some type of mental health issues in the past says "this organization saved my life"...I'm inclined to believe those words are literally what he meant. Who knows what has been shared with Silas or what he knows about that but my guess is quite a bit or at least enough to know the kid was in a dark place when he first arrived.
Thanks for the upload. It's rare to see an NBA coach to be so emotionally invested in a player and being so publicly honest about it. I'm not sure I've ever seen it, actually. Whatever the outcome, it's still kind of cool to see when so much of the league (and the world) is about "just business."
Did Silas burst into tears? Or was he just emotional? Why does someone have to be dead before he gets emotional? You telling me you never got emotional except for dead people your entire life? If you ever watched Bambi or the Lion King and you started tearing up as a kid your dad should have slapped you and said these were just made up characters amirite?
That bolded bit was a bizarre and unsubstantiated thing to include in your post. The guy died in a helicopter crash with his daughter and several other people, including the pilot. Why you would post your opinion of that tragedy here is a mystery to me.
Some heartless MFs in this thread, this is a genuinely moving reaction to helping a kid turn his life around.
You know Phil Jackson took Rodman under his wing like this. Rudy T accepted a lot of **** from Vernon and still embraced him. Great coaches accept these players and some of the support goes way beyond the player, it’s about the person. Being on the internet, fake thugging and acting tough won’t teach you that. Again, watch Ted Lasso, go talk to some people, go out there and live and come back hopefully having learned something. If you still feel like Silas should be gone, it was a performance or unnecessary then I am sorry for you.
It is absolutely a tragedy (I intentionally did not bring up the others in that tragedy because it is not relevant to my post, but you made it about that which did make it bizarre), but it was a result of this type of mentality, of pushing so hard, that he did not want to waste a minute of his day so that he could either read, train, work on business deals, spend time with family, etc. He knew that this was a risk over traditional methods of transportation, because he did not allow for he and his wife to be on the same helicopter at the same time ever, so he knew that he was taking on risk to be able to achieve his goals which were lofty. The reason for mentioning it is not out of disrespect nor do i believe it is unsubstantiated, it is very relevant when discussing why people prioritize different methods of achieving growth. When people have been through different experiences in their life, often very tragic ones, you need to be sensitive to that, you can not assume everyone is built the same way as you and wants to take on the same risks and same sacrifices as you, some people have other things going on in their life. People saying that Kobe would call Silas soft, or not put up with KPJ dont really recognize that not everyone has had the same opportunities, and when a guy literally says the organization saved his life, and then gets made fun of on here, I felt the need to point out that life is very short, and tomorrow is not promised, some people are willing to take on more risk and sacrifice more when wanting to achieve their goals, but seeing how the pandemic affected us, and seeing Kobe pass made a lot of us think about what sacrifices are really worth making when it comes to our jobs. I apologize if my initial post came across as brash, and can understand how I may have not communicated my point in a meaningful way, but the reason Kobe had so many fans was because he was relatable to people outside of basketball, because his work ethic and approach could be applied to just about anyone. When someone passes away young, you go through phases of explaining what happened to yourself. When he passed, it personally made me think about how to correctly balance my career and social life, and made me question if the sacrifices I made were worth it, knowing that tomorrow is not promised. During the pandemic I was working upwards of 80 hours a week for 10 consecutive years, and several events of that year made me rethink my approach to life. Silas obviously understands that some things are bigger than basketball, and I appreciate his approach with the players.
It was a touching moment. 95% of everything we see on TV is scripted. When you FINALLY get a real genuine response it's always good to see. Silas loves his players
Doesn't anyone see a connection between Silas's romantic thing with KPJ and Sengun's demotion to the bench? A whole woke movie could be made out of this development.
I still believe the sentence you included in your post that I felt was inappropriate should have been left out, but I very much appreciate your explanation. Thanks for taking the time, and as someone who feels like the pandemic took the plans for most of a couple of years away from my significant other and I, when time no longer feels “endless,” at least for me, I can relate, I think, to what you were attempting to express. I hope we win tonight.
