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Stephon Castle has played, and will continue to play, any position that’s needed to win. He did it as the main creator at Newton High School, where he earned McDonald’s All American status and led the Rams to the 2022 GHSA Final Four. Not long after, he was hoisting the NCAA championship trophy with the Huskies after playing every position surrounding the priority ballhandler. And since being drafted to the Spurs, the 6-6 guard has been asked to blend both styles of his game into one.
Rookie of the Year honors were bestowed in Year One. Year Two will more than likely see an All-Defensive Team selection while San Antonio battles for a deep playoff run. Currently residing at No. 2 in the Western Conference, the Spurs hit the nitro on their rebuilding timeline in 2025-26. One of the youngest cores in the League is responsible for recording the franchise’s first winning season in seven years. And behind the shadow of an alien and a stocked collection of guards, a Castle has begun to take control of the kingdom.
“Obviously, the last couple of years haven't been as high-level as the city may have wanted them to be, but I feel like we're bringing it back to a good spot,” Castle says. “And I like the group that we have doing it. I feel like they just made it super fun. Everybody's playing free, playing with confidence, and then we just have a lot of belief in each other. And it’s been working for us all season.”
Amidst the towel celebrations from the bench and the post-win drum at halfcourt, Castle has swiftly evolved into one of the game’s premier two-way stalwarts. In San Antonio, he leads the team in assists (7.0) and steals (1.2) per game while pouring in 16.7 points and snatching 5.1 boards. When he’s not initiating the Spurs’ high-octane offense, he’s got locks waiting for the opposing squad’s best offensive player.
One possession, he’s checking Luka Doncic; the next, he’s switching out to LeBron James or Austin Reaves. The next night, he’s holding his own in the paint against Alperen Sengun and then pestering KD on the perimeter. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was held to 31.5 percent from the field on Christmas. Luka shot 8-21 when he had No. 5 on him. And Cade went 2-10 against Castle’s persistent pressure.
Castle’s mentality on the defensive side of the rock is ruthless. Relentless. Fearless. Every time he leaves the floor, it’s ill intentions for anything between him and the rim. Sitting inside our studio in New York City during the Spurs’ East Coast road trip, Castle tells us that even with a 7-4 man in the middle, he welcomes being the head of the snake defensively for the team. The Spurs’ primary point of attack defender is picking up full-court routinely, establishing the energy early each night.
“I think that [defensive] pride just comes from the will to want to do it, knowing what it takes to win,” Castle says. “I feel like being at UConn, it kind of showed me the ropes of what it’s like to be able to win. So just carrying that on to my NBA career."
In Covington, GA, Castle was focused on expanding his offensive game as much as possible, diving headfirst into his responsibilities as the main creator for himself and others. He was able to finetune his interpretation of the game early on, recognizing and executing reads he still uses to this day. In Storrs, a pair of senior guards assumed control of the pace and flow of the offense. So Castle leaned into growing his game off the ball and influencing the win column without always scoring in bunches.
“I mean, when I’m on defense, I just try and take the comfortability part out of it for the offensive player, not let them get to any spot being comfortable,” Castle says. “At the timeout, I can kind of see what side of the court they’re trying to get to, to run their play, kind of try and keep them from getting there, just little things like that. But, I mean, a lot of it’s technique.”
At 6-6 with a rare combination of quickness and speed, Castle has the physical tools for being a gifted lockdown artist, but the shooting splits that stir up DPOY conversations on social media aren’t a result of anything natural. That’s derived from his acute attention to detail and constant obsession with pre-game preparation. “A lot of work goes into it. It’s not just magic that guys are just missing shots because I’m guarding them. It’s very calculated,” Castle says.
Hours before tip-off, Castle is sitting courtside with an assistant, analyzing his opponent’s tendencies in dozens of situations. They sift through statistical data on his matchup’s hot spots and zones on the court where the player can be forced into uncomfortable possessions. Every detail holds a tell, down to how a player gathers through the lane. And then they put those scenarios into practice. “Not just watching film, not just seeing what guys like to do—actually practicing getting through screens, understanding guys’ tendencies,” he says.
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In turn, that preparation has given him a wealth of tools to break out when he’s done forcing a shot-clock violation and back to bringing the ball up the court. The improvements from year to year have been clearer than the views from the Tower of the Americas on a summer afternoon. Castle’s sophomore season has featured three more assists per game and has seen him grow his field-goal percentage from 42.8 to 46.8. Since the All-Star break, he’s hitting 38.8 percent of his shots from downtown. And in early February, he recorded his second triple-double of the season, a 40-point, 12-rebound, 12-assist effort against Dallas, joining David Robinson as the only Spur to record such a stat line.
He and rookie Dylan Harper have been tabbed the “Slash Brothers” by the fan base in recognition of their ability to rack up paint touches. This season, he’s been extending that familiarity to the midrange and spot-up threes, finding pockets in the paint for fadeaways and around the elbows. Alongside Wemby and Carter Bryant’s suffocating defense, the Spurs churn out stops and Castle leads them in transition.
“When I get to my spot, there’s barely anybody in the League that can stop me from touching the paint when I want to. So just trying to open up my offensive game in those areas,” Castle says. “The game’s been slowing down for me. Me and the rest of our young guys, too. We work on that a lot. We talk about that stuff a lot, getting to those spots and just trying to make it automatic for us.”
It’s through his actions that Castle is already providing leadership to a youthful bunch. Like the rest of the roster and the world, he’s aware that going from a 34-win season to clearing 50-plus the next year has drawn all types of attention. Opposing teams aren’t just trying to beat them, they’re trying to test them and push them. For the first time in a while, the Finals feel in-reach in the Alamo City. And the accelerated timeline has been met with rapid maturity.
“I feel like just the position that we’ve put ourselves in, being number two in the West, I feel like we have a target on our back,” Castle says. “So, us being young, it’s easy for us to go out there and make a couple of mistakes and say, My bad. But with the position that we put ourselves in, we can't have those young mistakes anymore, just being where we’re at. So [we’re] trying to lock in on our principles and do what we can every day to keep this thing rolling.”
In the moments where opponents are pushing the walls in, the Spurs take a look to their left and a look to their right and lean on the bonds they’ve been building. Whether it’s Castle gifting Luke Kornet a shiesty over the holidays, going to dinner on the road or chilling in each other’s hotel rooms, Castle says the Spurs are always finding ways to be around one another.
No. 5 is the self-appointed best on the team when it comes to the sticks, referencing Arc Raiders, NBA 2K and Call of Duty as the usual collection of games that the team plays together. He admits Carter Bryant and De’Aaron Fox could probably take it when it comes to COD, but “the rest of the games, I’ve got ’em.”
The off-court connections helped stitch together the on-court chemistry, making difficult conversations and disconnects quickly correctable. It leads to Castle being even more aggressive when his opponent crosses halfcourt, knowing he’s got a backline defense that’s in sync with where he shifts the ballhandler.
“It’s fun to have guys around the same age as you, kind of going through the same kind of struggles as you. It feels almost like an AAU season that’s kind of just extended over a long period of time,” Castle says. “We’re always around each other. We travel together. We’re on the road together. We’re getting into cities late, sometimes at 3 a.m. Then we’ve got to wake up and play the next day. So it’s cool to go through those experiences with guys that are going through the same kind of struggle that you are.”
With this team’s first playoff appearance just a few weeks away, Castle and the Spurs are continuing to draw confidence from the bonds they’ve constructed and the atmosphere they’ve curated within the Frost Bank Center, where a dedicated group of super fans is growing and the idea of making room in the rafters isn’t so far-fetched. Resurrecting the feeling that currently permeates throughout South Central Texas started with getting back to Gregg Popovich’s 50-win philosophy. And it continues by refusing to project what Castle and the Spurs can become.
“I mean, for us, we don’t really try to put a ceiling on how well we can do this season,” Castle says. “We have a lot of confidence in our guys. Obviously we know we can do really special things this season and this postseason. So [we’re] just trying to keep that in the back of our minds, but also stay humble and level-headed in that.
“Knowing where our organization comes from—we come from winning. So just to feel that the city is back in a good position, just seeing the Spurs win, just being a part of that, it gives me a good feeling.”
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