Houston Rockets: 3 reasons why Stephen Silas shouldn’t be fired

Houston Rockets reason #3 why Stephen Silas shouldn’t be fired: Injuries

While the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers’ injury problems have garnered national media attention, not much has been made of the MASH unit down in Houston. Only one player, Jae’Sean Tate, has featured in every single game this season and the only other player with over 50 appearances is Sterling Brown.

As a matter of fact, Tate and Brown will be the only players to play in 50 games this season for the Rockets. The list of notable Rockets to have suffered a long injury layoff practically reads like their starting lineup.

John Wall, Christian Wood, Eric Gordon, and David Nwaba have all missed significant time and that doesn’t even include in-season acquisition Victor Oladipo who, largely due to injuries, only played in 20 games for the Rockets. From a pure talent standpoint, the Rockets played the vast majority of their season down at least one of their top five players.

A team with multiple superstars can weather extended absences from their core players but the Rockets don’t even have one superstar, let alone two. If the Rockets were going to have a successful season, they were going to need to be healthy, and they simply weren’t.

Stephen Silas tried his best to keep this roster healthy and rested. Blaming him for the Rockets injuries and the subsequent drop in performance it caused would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Injuries are the cruelest and most random equalizer in all of sport. They can topple dynasties, knock defending champs off their perch, and send playoff hopefuls tumbling in the abyss. Punishing Stephen Silas for the cruel reality of randomness is a bridge too far.

Next: Reason #2 why Stephen Silas shouldn’t be fired