Paul Silas remembered: Durable rebounder/defender stalwart latest in long line of Celtic legends to recently pass

By Professor Parquet for www.celticsblog.com
A.k.a. Cort Reynolds

Earlier this week, well-respected former Boston Celtic rebounding ace Paul Silas died at age 79 in North Carolina. He became the latest in a line of Celtic legends who have died in the past few years. JoJo White, John Havlicek, Sam and K.C. Jones, Tom Heinsohn, Larry Siegfried and most recently Bill Russell all preceded him in death.

The rugged 6-7 Arkansas native went to McClymonds High School in Oakland, California – the same school that also impressively graduated Bill Russell, baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson and Curt Flood.

Silas was known mostly for his powerful rebounding and tough, physical defense. He was probably the best rebounding forward of his era, along with Elvin Hayes.

At Creighton, he averaged 20.5 points and 21.6 rebounds per game over three seasons, and was inducted to the College Basketball Hall of Fame. He is one of a handful of players to average 20-20 over a season or college career.

He was drafted 12th overall by the then-St. Louis Hawks in 1964 and played five seasons for them, then three years with Phoenix. Needing a rebounding forward to pair with young but undersized center phenom Dave Cowens, Red Auerbach acquired Paul for the rights to Charlie Scott, whom Boston had drafted out of North Carolina before he opted for the ABA.

Scott then jumped to the NBA Suns, and ironically in 1975, Boston would get him “back” by trading budding young star guard Paul Westphal to the Suns. Even more irony ensued when the Celtics with Silas and Scott would meet Phoenix and Westphal at the close of that season in the memorable 1976 Finals, which Boston won 4-2. In effect, the crafty Auerbach got both Silas and Scott for each other.

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