Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced today that the team has promoted Stephen Silas to associate head coach and has hired Eddie Jordan as an assistant coach. The team also made the following announcements regarding basketball operations personnel: Rick Higgins has been promoted to coaching assistant/video coordinator, Cam Twiss has been promoted to General Manager of the team’s G League affiliate the Greensboro Swarm, David Kaplan has been promoted to manager of basketball analytics, Adam Filippi has transitioned to collegiate scouting and Jakub Kudlacek has been hired as an international scout.
Silas is in his eighth season on the Charlotte bench and 17th in the NBA, coming to Charlotte 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 season.
Silas 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.
Jordan played seven seasons in the NBA from 1977-84 with four different teams, helping the Lakers to an NBA Championship during the 1981-82 season. He began his coaching career as an assistant in the college ranks with Boston College (1986-88) and Rutgers University (1988-91), before returning to the NBA as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings from 1992-97. Jordan has been a head coach with three NBA teams: the Kings (1997-98), the Washington Wizards (2003-08) and Philadelphia 76ers (2009-10). Most recently, he was the head coach at his alma mater, Rutgers University (2013-16).
The Washington, D.C. native has additional coaching experience as the lead assistant with the New Jersey Nets (1999-03) and Los Angeles Lakers (2012-13), where he coached alongside current Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford. While with the Nets, Jordan helped guide the team to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003.
Higgins’ promotion to coaching assistant/video coordinator comes after serving as the team’s video scout for the past four seasons. In his expanded role, Higgins will assist with game planning, scouting reports and player workouts in addition to his role in the video department.
Twiss has been promoted to General Manager of the Greensboro Swarm after serving as the Swarm’s Director of Basketball Operations for the G League affiliate’s inaugural season. Twiss will manage the Swarm’s roster, advise on G League and college personnel and assist with the integration between the Hornets and its G-League team.
Filippi, who previously scouted internationally, is now focused on collegiate scouting. Entering his seventh season in Charlotte, Filippi has more than 20 years of scouting experience. He previously worked for the Los Angeles Lakers before joining the Hornets.
Kudlacek, a native of the Czech Republic, played professionally in Europe for seven seasons and was a member of the Czech national team. Last season, he served as an international scout for the Los Angeles Clippers.
In his new role, Kaplan will provide basketball analytics to the coaching staff and front office. Previously, he served as a quantitative analyst for the Hornets.
