Why is Castle the best rookie in the NBA?

In June 2024, the San Antonio Spurs, who held the 4th pick in the first round, selected defender Stephen Castle from the University of Connecticut.

10 months later, the 20-year-old young player was named the best rookie of the 2024/25 season.

Casel, who averaged 14+3+4 games this season, ranks fourth in assists, and is second in terms of appearances and scores. If we don't include Jared McCain, who only played 23 games, in the discussion, then Castle should actually be the scoring champion in the rookie category.

After the All-Star Weekend, after Wenban Yama confirmed that she was reimbursed due to injury, Castle's personal data increased to 17.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5 assists.

data does not fully reflect his excellence. His game content also has many intangible values ​​that are easily overlooked. For example, he can always deal with the ball in a reasonable way like a veteran, rather than committing the common problem of many young players being reckless and reckless.

Popovich saw him for the first time, and he didn't think he was a rookie. "Although Castle is young, he is very mature. He is decent and has a high ball quotient. He can play from No. 1 to No. 3 and is a good player."

Castle has a precocious discipline. He always reports to the stadium on time and even takes the initiative to come to the training hall early. He doesn't stay up late. Whether it's game day or training day, he keeps his schedule and is physically and mentally adapted to the biological clock of the 82 regular season games.

20-year-old Castle looks like an alternative veteran cadre, but he has not lost the most precious vitality of young people. He is like a hungry sponge in San Antonio, absorbing everything he can see, think, and touch. During the 6-month regular season, Castle was doing the same thing every day, which was listening and learning. He has learned how to analyze videos with the Hall of Fame point guard who has been in the league for 20 years, and imitated how Harrison Barnes, who won the championship with the best dynasty team in nearly 10 years, became a professional player...

Perhaps for some rookies, they still need time to adapt to the rhythm of the professional league. But it wasn't difficult for Castle, because he started doing it when he was still young.

"He can play for any coach"

Stesi Castle, his first mentor and his father. From 1992 to 1994, Old Castle played at Wake Forest University, and he and Tim Duncan, the greatest player in the history of the Spurs, were teammates.

After retiring, Old Castle originally wanted to join Harlem basketball team, but eventually chose to be a coach. When Cassle Jr. was in junior high school, Cassle Old became his coach. At first, Castle was very unhappy with his father's strict discipline, but he quickly adjusted his mindset and no longer resisted any guidance from his father.

Old Castle said, "From that moment, I knew he could play for any team, for any coach."

Kimmani Young is another former teammate of Old Castle and the chief assistant coach at the University of Connecticut. Old Castle wants his son to go to Connecticut to play under famous coach Hurley because he knows that Hurley's strict discipline can shape players closer to the NBA.

Castle has skills and football dealers, but he has not played real team basketball on a disciplined team. The coach of the high school team allows the talented Castle to do whatever he wants, and even if he makes a mistake, the coach will not really criticize him.

Little Castle was the same as his father thought. After watching Hurley's training at the age of 18, he also had a mature idea: "If I don't jump out of my comfort zone of playing, then I can't make substantial progress. I want to play team-first basketball."

Casel's parents gave Hurley and his team 100% trust. Castle's mother Quarnett even gave Hurley and Kimani a reassurance, "Try your best to train Castle, we will never ask."

But their attention to Castle never fell, whether at home or away, they traveled 1,200 kilometers from Covington, Georgia, and watched almost every game his son represented the University of Connecticut. Even if Castle has a six-game break in the offseason due to a knee injury, you can still find his parents in the audience.

When Castle was elected the best newcomer in the NCAA Big East Division, he came on stage to receive the award and specifically thanked his parents: "They have given me great help in everything. My father was once a professional player and a good teacher to me, keeping me awake and humble."

Old Castle always keeps a word on his lips, that is, "maintain hard work and humble, and play in the right way." This is also the creed his son has always adhered to as a player.

19-year-old Castle learned to play the right way earlier than most of his peers, which allowed him to successfully win the NCAA championship in his freshman year. After cutting off the Nets, which symbolizes the highest honor of college basketball, Castle became the first Connecticut player to be selected in the lottery after 12 years after Drummond of 2012.

Escape from the comfort zone: Become a student of basketball

Spurs general manager Brian Wright After choosing Castle, Popovich and Vinbanyama called him immediately to welcome him to the San Antonio family.

Old Paul was very surprised by Castle's precocious puberty. Paul has also been young and has also been a mentor to many young players. With 20 years of experience, he is very clear about how much effort a player needs to go from immature to mature, so he also understands how magical it is for a 20-year-old rookie to have the qualities that are not inferior to professional players..

Paul likes this mature and humble young man very much: "Some players have just entered the league, but you can see that they are well-shaped in college. I can see that the coaching level of coaching Castle is very high, and he is also very confident. In addition to external guidance, this confidence also depends on hard training."

And it is very exciting for Castle to be able to live with the Hall of Fame point guard in training, competition, and even daily life in the first year of his career. Because Castle, who has been instructed by good teachers all the way, knows how important Bole is to a thousand-mile horse.

On March 22, 2025, Castle delivered a career-high 14 assists at the Frost Bank Center. Throughout March, Castle averaged 4.8 assists per game, while in the first month of the season, he averaged only 3 assists per game, and Fox was not around at that time.

As the season deepens, we can observe that Castle has a deeper understanding of reading defense and understanding the game. And he attributed this to "being by Paul gave me a new understanding of the game."

Popovich once said that Castle learns things very quickly, which stems from his infinitely open and inclusive mentality. Castle is not a piece of white paper in terms of ability, but in terms of posture, it is like a piece of white paper that can accommodate infinite colors.

When he chose a university, he forced himself to learn how to play team basketball because he didn't want to become a Douyin player who only knows how to swipe data. When he came to the Spurs, he accepted the opinions given to him in the same way as long as that could help him become stronger.

Mickey Johnson, who replaced Popovich coaching, sometimes felt sorry for Castle because the latter accepted the arrangement of the coaching staff with a completely open attitude. He could play No. 1 with the ball or give up the position to Fox to play without the ball. The swing of tactical roles is always not easy for a rookie who has not yet fully adapted to the league.

Spurs general manager Brian Wright admitted: "Casel has a lot of impressive details. He is a likable teammate and is willing to sacrifice his personal role for the team. This really makes us very recognized."

In order to win, Castle can do anything. He swung from No. 1 to No. 3, while those taller strikers than him only shot 27.3% from his defense.

Therefore, "escape from the comfort zone" has always been his view of basketball.

And this is so pleasing to Paul.

"I like those athletes who want to win. We don't make friends in the NBA, and I respect him very much."

"And the excellent point guards I have seen over the years have this kind of commonality. In addition to talent and skills, they also need some spiritual resilience. Curry has such qualities. Castle makes me feel that he has the same."

When the Spurs finished the last game of the season, Paul walked to Castle and left him a "summer homework": "Go to watch a playoff game on site and feel the atmosphere of the playoffs."

Paul hopes Castle can experience the intensity of the TV broadcast on the spot, so as to plant the seeds of looking forward to high-level games in his heart. Castle has a huge internal driving force to complete this "summer vacation homework". "I want to watch the playoffs, and the coach always emphasizes that those strong teams often do a good job in the details, and I can learn this in the playoffs."

If I were to find a template to describe Castle, I would use Little Holiday. Or there is one thing that no one can think of - Jimmy Butler Jr.

In October 2011, Butler, the last selected first round, came to Chicago to participate in training, and he was shocked on the first day, "Ross, Noah, Lor Deng, Ty Gibson... These players who are older than me are squirting trash talks at each other in training and pulling competition. Everything he touched during the rookie period made Butler.

So, can San Antonio make Castle too?

Just like Parker, Ginobili and Leonard have been made here.

The players who can achieve greatness often have such commonalities - they are all willing to receive teaching, and in English, it is coachable.

Castle sincerely said: "Hulley and Popovich, playing for such a high-level coach is my vision as a player. ”

This reminds me that 28 years ago, the Spurs also got a player like this. His name is Tim Duncan.