Spurs Captain Late

James Silas Didn’t Search Out the Spotlight. The Spotlight Found Him

Few NBA fans today remember the American Basketball Association (ABA), the NBA’s upstart challenger that existed for less than a decade before it merged with its more successful counterpart in 1976. Fewer still recall that the San Antonio Spurs were originally the Chaparrals, an ABA team based in Dallas. But, if you’re a Spurs fan, you probably remember James Silas, the Spurs’ first great point guard and the first San Antonio Spur to have his number retired. Silas — aka Captain Late — not only helped endear the young franchise to its new home in San Antonio, jump-starting basketball culture in South Texas in the process, but he is the link from the Spurs’ beginnings as an also-ran ABA team to the dominant powerhouse it is today, 50 years later. How did a fifth-round draft pick waived by the Houston Rockets become the face of a bourgeoning franchise just a few years later? While being passed up by the Rockets — and every team in the ABA — suggests Silas’ success was a fluke, Captain Late’s college history as a two-time All American is more instructive. Silas was never the biggest, but his fluidity on the court, his penchant for picking the right pass to George Gervin or Larry Kenon, and his preternatural ability to dominate in the fourth quarter made Silas a breakout success, first for the Chaparrals — where he was named to the ABA All-Rookie team — then for the Spurs.

James Silas #13 of the San Antonio Spurs shoots a free throw against the Washington Bullets during an NBA basketball game circa 1978 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. Silas played for the Dallas Chaparrals/San Antonio Spurs from 1972-81.

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His willingness to get his teammates into the game on the court reflects a personality okay with playing second fiddle. “When you've got guys like Gervin, ‘Mr. K’ and Paultz on your team, they're stars," Silas said in a 1976 interview. "I try to get them into their game. I don't want to take away from their game. I've got to keep them happy, and I've got confidence in my game that I can do it.” It’s a humble statement from a player who would go on to average 23.8 points, 5.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game that year, especially when you consider it wasn’t uncommon for Silas to score double digits in the final quarter, earning him the “Captain Late” and “the Late Mr. Silas” monikers. James Silas was happy with the spotlight, and without. This endearing contradiction was punctuated by Silas’ off-court persona. With his flamboyant wardrobe and stylish afro, Silas embodied 1970s funk cool, and his outgoing personality made him a hit with the Spurs’ growing fanbase. Silas helped provide the team a much-needed identity as they settled in San Antonio. Long before the big money and bright lights of the NBA came calling, basketball truly was a local affair. The players of the ABA felt approachable. In Silas’ first season in San Antonio, there were no TV contracts showing the ’73-’74 Spurs. Instead, an intimate bond formed between the players and the raucous 5,000 to 6,000 people who attended the games at HemisFair Arena. Silas personified the social contract between players and the city, a fun, friendly player who was willing to lead from behind. His ability to shine when the spotlight was on him and to be content when it was not may have contributed to the fact that many people remember George Gervin as the Spurs’ first true superstar. But if the legacy of James Silas is quieter than his contemporary’s, it’s only because that’s the way Silas liked it. It’s instructive to note the Spurs definitively view Silas as a lead protagonist in their 50-year history; they retired his number 13 in 1984, the first ever by the franchise. James Silas played eight seasons for the Spurs. He battled knee injuries throughout the second half of this career before suffering one in a preseason game that permanently derailed his career. While he did return, much of his quickness and speed did not. In 1981, the Spurs traded their former star to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Silas retired the following year. It may have been an inauspicious end to a career that reached heights no one expected, but the legacy of the Late Mr. Silas is one that connected San Antonio to a culture of basketball. Before the Spurs came to San Antonio on a three-year lease-to-own deal in 1973, the city had little connection to basketball. Silas’ magnetism on and off the court sparked a lasting tradition among San Antonians of loving basketball and cherishing their beloved Spurs. It proved that San Antonio, despite its small market size, could sustain a professional team. Silas’ performances brought in business from all over the state. James Silas was ahead of his time in the larger history of basketball. His style of play would have suited the free-flowing game basketball was to become by the late ’80s. Yet, for the Spurs, James Silas wasn’t early. Despite often leaving it late, James Silas was right on time.

As a player from a small town, Tallulah, Louisiana, who attended a small college, Silas seemed unlikely for the spotlight.

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James Silas Didn’t Search Out the Spotlight. The Spotlight Found Him

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