The Dallas Mavericks have hired Jenny Boucek and Stephen Silas as assistant coaches.
Boucek (pronounced Boo-SECK) became just the third woman to coach in the NBA after spending last season with the Sacramento Kings (also Becky Hammond-San Antonio and Nancy Lieberman-Sacramento). Prior to joining the Kings, she spent three seasons as the head coach of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm (2015-17) and two-plus seasons as the head coach of the Sacramento Monarchs (2007-09).
Boucek was involved in the WNBA since its inaugural season in 1997 when she played for the Cleveland Rockers. Following a career-ending injury in 1998, she began her coaching career as an assistant with the Washington Mystics in 1999. She then spent three seasons (2000-02) in the same capacity with the Miami Sol and three seasons with the Seattle Storm (2003-05). In her first stint with Seattle in 2004, Boucek was a member of the franchise’s first WNBA Championship. The Storm won their second WNBA crown in 2010 with Boucek on staff in a similar role. Boucek is distinguished as the first athlete to play in the WNBA and subsequently serve as both an assistant and head coach in the league.
The Nashville, Tenn., native played collegiate basketball at the University of Virginia from 1992-96. Boucek helped lead the Cavaliers to four regular season Atlantic Coast Conference Championships and three NCAA Elite Eight appearances. She was a two-time GTE All-American, two-time ACC selection and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. She finished her career at Virginia with over 1,000 points.
Silas joins Dallas after spending the previous nine seasons as an assistant with the Charlotte Hornets, including the last as the team’s Associate Head Coach. The 2018-19 season will mark his 18th year as an assistant coach in the NBA.
During his recent stint with Charlotte, Silas served as the head coach of the team on several occasions. In 2015-16, he helped lead the Hornets to a division-best 48-34 (.585) record and the franchise’s second playoff appearance in a span of three years.
Silas joined the Hornets’ coaching staff on Dec. 26, 2010, after spending the previous four-and-a-half seasons as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors. Prior to joining the Warriors, Silas served as an advance scout for the Washington Wizards during the 2005-06 campaign. He also spent five seasons as an assistant coach under his father, Paul Silas, with the original Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets (2000-03) and Cleveland Cavaliers (2003-05). Silas, who joined the original Hornets in the summer of 1999 as an advance and college scout, was promoted to assistant coach on June 5, 2000, making him the youngest assistant in the NBA at that time at 27 years old.
The Boston native graduated from Brown University in 1996, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in sociology and management and played four seasons for the Bears basketball team. Upon graduation, Silas spent three years as the assistant executive director of the National Basketball Retired Players Association in Providence, Rhode Island.
