Stephon Castle wasted no time making an impact in his first NBA season, winning Rookie of the Year with the San Antonio Spurs after averaging 14.7 points and 4.1 assists per game.
Despite his strong debut, the 20-year-old guard admitted that the speed of the professional game was his toughest adjustment.
“I’d probably say the speed of the game,” Castle told D.J. Siddiqi of ESports Insider. “It took me a little minute to catch up to it, especially with how good players are in the NBA. It’s hard to stop guys. The offense is really overlooked with how good players are in the league. You have the eighth guy on the bench coming in and it’s hard to stop him as well.”
Castle also highlighted the challenge of balancing life off the court. With more free time in the NBA than in college, he leaned on veteran teammates to help him handle downtime and stay focused.
“Outside of basketball, you know how much free time we have when we’re not on the court, not working out,” Castle said. “We have a lot of downtime to just sit and think about these games. That’s where some of the older guys on my team last year kind of helped me with getting my mind off of basketball.”
The Spurs’ rising star acknowledged that shooting remains his primary area for improvement. He finished last season at 42.8 percent from the field and 28.5 percent from beyond the arc, both numbers he hopes to raise with consistent reps.
“With live reps, I feel like that’s the best way you can learn is to keep seeing different defenses,” Castle said. “Just repping it out, really with a lot of defenders, just getting a lot of shooting reps.”
Castle enters his sophomore season on a Spurs team in transition. San Antonio ended last year with 34 wins, their best total since 2021, and will move forward under new head coach Mitch Johnson after Gregg Popovich stepped down in May.
Castle credited his brief experience with Popovich for shaping his approach to the game, stressing the importance of patience and letting development unfold naturally.
“Just to take my time with things, don’t rush anything,” Castle said. “I only played five, six games with Coach Pop. But on that short scale, I feel like I learned a lot from him.”
