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Flanked by San Antonio Spurs royalty, Spurs guard Stephon Castle was named Rookie of the Year.
At his celebratory press conference, San Antonio’s previous Rookie of the Year winners: all-time greats David Robinson and Tim Duncan and a future face of the league Victor Wembanyama, all appeared on stage to hand Castle the trophy and welcome the UConn product into elite company.
Castle’s victory marked the first time since 2016 an NBA team had back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners after Wembanyama took home the award last season. The last team to do so was the Minnesota Timberwolves, when Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns won the award in 2015 and 2016.
In a landslide victory, Castle earned 92 out of 100 first-place votes. He also earned seven second-place votes and a single third-place vote. Castle finished with 482 points, 237 ahead of Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher, the top overall pick in the draft, who finished with 245 points.
Risacher garnered five first-place votes 64 second-place votes and 28 third-place votes. Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells finished with three first-place votes, 23 second-place votes and 39 third-place votes. No other candidate received any first-place votes.
Castle had a breakout rookie season for a rebuilding Spurs team built around Wembanyama. He appeared in 81 games, starting in 47 of them, and averaged 14.7 points per game. He posted two 30-point performances, including a career-high 33 points on Feb. 7 in a 117-116 loss to the Hornets, where the rookie shot an efficient 10-15 from the field and 60% from beyond the arc.
To cap it off, he even took three-time dunk contest winner Mac McClung to the wire in the final round of this year’s contest.
The Spurs currently are one of the youngest teams in the league rebuilding a young core, with only three rostered players over the age of 30. Despite their youth, the Spurs improved their win total from last year by 12 wins, finishing with a 34-48 record.
With a talented draft class entering the 2025 NBA Draft, San Antonio is hoping the lottery falls into their favor to potentially draft another Rookie of the Year candidate.
