Chris Silva

Gabonese basketball player (born 1996)

Chris Silva
Silva at the 2019 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament
No. 30 – College Park Skyhawks
PositionPower forward
LeagueNBA G League
Personal information
Born (1996-09-19) September 19, 1996 (age 27)
Libreville, Gabon
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight234 lb (106 kg)
Career information
High schoolRoselle Catholic
(Roselle, New Jersey)
CollegeSouth Carolina (2015–2019)
NBA draft2019: undrafted
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019–2021Miami Heat
2020→Sioux Falls Skyforce
2021Sacramento Kings
2021Iowa Wolves
2021Minnesota Timberwolves
2021–2022Miami Heat
2022Iowa Wolves
2022–2023College Park Skyhawks
2023Dallas Mavericks
2023–presentCollege Park Skyhawks
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-SEC (2018)
  • First-team All-SEC – Coaches (2019)
  • SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year (2018)
  • SEC All-Defensive team (2018)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Chris Silva Obame Correia Silva (born September 19, 1996) is a Gabonese professional basketball player for the College Park Skyhawks of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Early life

Silva was born in Gabon. His father, who played for the Gabon men's national basketball team, helped arrange to send Silva to the United States as a teenager to pursue a professional basketball career.[1]

In September 2012, when Silva was 15 years old, he arrived in the United States for the first time to enroll at Roselle Catholic High School in New Jersey. Though he knew no English and had no experience playing organized basketball, he told assistant basketball coach Tommy Sacks, "Coach, I go NBA." Sacks later commented, "His ceiling is so high, one of the highest I've ever seen, because all he wants to do is get better. He wants to live in the weight room. He wants to run on his own. He wants to work out. He wants to get shots up."[2]

High school career

Initially, with the Roselle Catholic basketball team, Silva was not aware of the rules of the game. In his senior season, his team won the state championship. Silva drew interest from college basketball programs such as Seton Hall and Rhode Island, and eventually signed with the South Carolina Gamecocks. Silva said, "That's a great school, great coaches. I like everything about it, the education, the support they give to players after their career—everything."[3]

College career

In 2017 Silva started all 37 games on the Gamecocks team that reached the Final Four. In 2018 Silva won SEC Co-Defensive player of the year, was First-team All-SEC and was named to the All-Defensive team. He averaged 14.3 points and 8 rebounds per game as a junior and shot 46.7 percent from the floor. Following the season he declared for the NBA draft but did not hire an agent. Silva was not invited to the NBA combine and decided to return to South Carolina.[4]

Professional career

Miami Heat (2019–2021)

Silva was signed by the Miami Heat on July 11, 2019.[5] On October 19, the Heat converted his deal to a two-way contract with their NBA G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.[6] On October 23, Silva made his NBA debut, coming off the bench in a 120–101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. He finished with eight points, six rebounds, and three blocks.[7] On January 15, 2020, Silva signed a standard NBA contract with the Heat.[8] On January 23, Silva was assigned to the Sioux Falls Skyforce.[9] On January 26, Silva was brought back up to the Miami Heat. The Heat reached the 2020 NBA Finals, but lost in 6 games to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Sacramento Kings (2021)

On March 25, 2021, Silva and Maurice Harkless were traded to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Nemanja Bjelica.[10] On April 28, he was waived by the Kings.[11]

Iowa Wolves (2021)

On September 20, 2021, Silva signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.[12] However, he was waived prior to the start of the season.[13] On October 26, he signed with the Iowa Wolves.[14] In 12 games, he averaged 15.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.8 blocks, leading the Wolves in rebounds per game and blocks per game.[15]

Minnesota Timberwolves (2021)

On December 21, 2021, Silva signed a 10-day contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.[15]

Return to Miami (2021–2022)

On December 31, 2021, Silva signed a 10-day contract with the Miami Heat.[16] On January 10, 2022, he signed a second 10-day contract.[17] Silva signed a third 10-day contract with the Heat on January 21.[18] He signed a fourth 10-day contract with the Heat on January 31.[19]

Return to Iowa (2022)

He returned to the Iowa Wolves on February 9.[20] [21]

College Park Skyhawks (2022–2023)

On November 3, 2022, Silva was named to the opening night roster for the College Park Skyhawks.[22]

Dallas Mavericks (2023)

On January 31, 2023, the Dallas Mavericks announced that they had signed Silva to a 10-day contract.[23] He signed a second 10-day contract with the team on February 10,[24] but was waived just four days later, in order for the team to sign Justin Holiday instead.[25]

Return to College Park (2023–present)

On February 14, 2023, Silva was reacquired by the College Park Skyhawks.[26] On September 25, he signed with the Atlanta Hawks,[27] but was waived two days later.[28] On October 29, he returned to the Skyhawks.[29]

National team career

On June 11, 2015, Silva was named to the Gabon national basketball team's preliminary squad for the AfroBasket 2015 by head coach Thierry Bouanga. It was considered a possibility that he would debut alongside ex-NBA player Stéphane Lasme. Silva would participate in a three-week training camp in Libreville in July.[30]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 Miami 44 0 7.9 .615 .000 .673 2.9 .5 .2 .5 3.0
2020–21 Miami 11 0 7.5 .692 1.000 .773 2.3 .5 .1 .5 2.7
2020–21 Sacramento 4 0 2.3 .333 — — .5 .0 .0 .3 .5
2021–22 Minnesota 1 0 3.0 — — — 1.0 .0 .0 .0 .0
2021–22 Miami 9 0 9.8 .533 — .833 3.9 .8 .0 .1 2.9
2022–23 Dallas 1 0 3.0 1.000 — — .0 .0 .0 .0 2.0
Career 70 0 7.6 .609 .250 .707 2.7 .5 .1 .4 2.8

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 South Carolina 32 6 13.3 .482 — .609 4.5 .2 .4 .9 5.4
2016–17 South Carolina 37 37 20.9 .524 .000 .749 6.1 .4 .6 1.4 10.2
2017–18 South Carolina 33 33 25.8 .467 .417 .753 8.0 1.2 .6 1.4 14.3
2018–19 South Carolina 32 32 26.7 .508 .500 .744 7.6 .9 .9 1.9 15.2
Career 134 108 21.7 .497 .475 .729 6.5 .7 .6 1.4 11.3

References

  1. ^ Thorpe, Jacob (April 1, 2017). "South Carolina forward Chris Silva's journey from Gabon to the Final Four". Associated Press. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  2. ^ Schneider, Jeremy. "From Gabon to T of C glory: The basketball journey of Roselle Catholic's Chris Silva". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  3. ^ Braziller, Zach. "The NJ hoops star from Africa: The Chris Silva saga". New York Post. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  4. ^ Hines, Travis (May 21, 2018). "Chris Silva returning to South Carolina for senior season". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  5. ^ "HEAT Signs Martin and Silva". National Basketball Association. July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  6. ^ "HEAT Convert Silva To Two-Way Contract". National Basketball Association. October 19, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  7. ^ "Butler misses Miami debut, Heat beat Grizzlies 120–101". ESPN. October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  8. ^ "Chris Silva Earns NBA Contract". National Basketball Association. January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  9. ^ Winderman, Ira (January 23, 2020). "Heat send Chris Silva to G League for seasoning". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  10. ^ "Kings Acquire Maurice Harkless And Chris Silva". National Basketball Association. March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  11. ^ "Kings Sign Chimezie Metu To Multi-Year Contract". National Basketball Association. April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  12. ^ "TIMBERWOLVES SIGN BRIAN BOWEN II, MATT LEWIS, ISAIAH MILLER AND CHRIS SILVA". National Basketball Association. September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  13. ^ "Timberwolves Waive Brian Bowen II, Matt Lewis, Isaiah Miller And Chris Silva". National Basketball Association. October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  14. ^ "Iowa Wolves Announce Training Camp Roster and Finalize Coaching Staff". OurSportsCentral.com. October 26, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  15. ^ a b "TIMBERWOLVES SIGN FORWARD CHRIS SILVA AND GUARD RAYJON TUCKER TO 10-DAY CONTRACTS". National Basketball Association. December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  16. ^ Winderman, Ira (December 31, 2021). "Erik Spoelstra on Heat adding Chris Silva, Mario Chalmers, 'It's like going back in time'". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  17. ^ "HEAT RE-SIGN KYLE GUY AND CHRIS SILVA". National Basketball Association. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  18. ^ Adams, Luke (January 21, 2022). "Chris Silva Signs Third 10-Day Deal With Heat". HoopsRumors. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  19. ^ Adams, Luke (January 31, 2022). "Heat Sign Chris Silva To Fourth 10-Day Contract". HoopsRumors. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  20. ^ Winderman, Ira (February 9, 2022). "Heat trade KZ Okpala to Thunder to open roster spot, restructure future pick owed to OKC". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  21. ^ "2021–22 NBA G League Transactions". National Basketball Association. February 10, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  22. ^ "College Park Skyhawks Roster 2022–23". National Basketball Association. November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  23. ^ Mavs PR [@MavsPR] (January 31, 2023). "The Dallas Mavericks have signed Chris Silva to a 10-day contract. Silva joins Dallas after beginning the year with the G League's College Park Skyhawks, where he averaged 14.2 points (.586 FG%, .781 FT%), 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 11 regular-season games (10 starts)" (Tweet). Retrieved January 31, 2023 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Mavericks Sign Chris Silva To Second 10-Day Contract". Hoops Rumors. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  25. ^ https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/amp/mavs_waive_chris_silva_from_10_day_contract/s1_17038_38469534
  26. ^ "2022–23 NBA G League Transactions". NBA.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  27. ^ Chouinard, Kevin [@KLChouinard] (September 25, 2023). "Hawks announced that they have signed Chris Silva" (Tweet). Retrieved September 26, 2023 – via Twitter.
  28. ^ Adams, Luke (September 27, 2023). "Hawks Waive Chris Silva". HoopsRumors.com. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  29. ^ "College Park Skyhawks Finalize Training Camp Schedule and Roster". NBA.com. October 29, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  30. ^ "College prospect Silva highlights Gabon's preliminary squad". FIBA. Archived from the original on June 12, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.

External links

  • Career statistics and player information from NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata and Basketball-Reference.com Edit this at Wikidata
  • South Carolina Gamecocks bio
  • v
  • t
  • e
College Park Skyhawks current roster
  • Head coach: Schmidt
  • Assistant coaches: Gibbs
  • Maye
  • Smith
  • Sulka