Stephon Castle impresses Spurs and LeBron James: ‘He’s going to be special’

Off to a great start to his third season with the San Antonio Spurs, power forward Jeremy Sochan suffered a broken bone (proximal phalanx) in his left thumb in Game 7 against the LA Clippers.

Rookie Stephon Castle is no power forward, but he was the choice of interim coach Mitch Johnson to replace Sochan in the starting lineup. Call it forced small ball, as Castle, 6-foot-5, filled in for the 6-8 Sochan, whose 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. match had made him almost level with Victor Wembanyama as Spurs’ most influential player in the first. week and a half of the season.

To say that Castle has made the most of the opportunity is an understatement of what he has shown Johnson and his assistants, teammates, Spurs fans and one particular consequential enemy.

Immediately following the Spurs’ 120-115 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first NBA Cup game for both teams on Nov. 15, LeBron James went directly to the 20-year-old from the University of Connecticut for a brief moment. , but meaningful conversation that left Castle filled with gratitude, respect and reassurance that he’s headed for success — this season and beyond.

Asked what he had told Castle, whose 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting had given the Spurs a solid chance to record their first-ever win in the In-Season Tournament, James left no doubt what he meant on the No. 4 overall pick of the 2024 draft.

“Go on, go on, man,” James said, repeating his message. “He’s gonna be special. He’s gonna be special, man.”

James had good reason to be impressed by Castle, who had a special moment with the game on the line. The Spurs rookie scored a tough, left-handed layup over James to put the Spurs ahead 115-114.

That would be the final score for the Spurs with James and Anthony Davis combining for the final six points of the game.

Nevertheless, Castle was suitably moved by the encouragement of the player who most of Castle’s generation considered THE GOAT.

“I mean, going up against LeBron, a guy I’ve watched since I was a kid, it’s definitely crazy to share the court with him,” Castle said.

James’ chat with Castle after the game included some tactical advice, as well as the admonition to “keep at it.”

“Just looking at reads, continuing to do what I’m doing, telling me what the next steps are for reads that I’m making,” Castle said. “I mean, when I start painting, playing off two feet, just stuff like that.

“I respect him and appreciate that he came and told me that. He didn’t have to, but like I said, I’ve watched him since I was a kid, so for him to come up to me and talk to me even that little bit, that meant a lot.”

Castle was not one to ignore the advice of a superstar. Castle continued to be a special player by helping the Spurs finally win their first NBA Cup, this time with a 110-104 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night despite the absence of Victor Wembanyama (knee contusion), Devin Vassell (sore left knee) and Sochan.

This time, his most impactful play was a block on Thunder MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with just 22 seconds left in what turned out to be the best win of the early season for the still-young Spurs. SGA had begun an end-to-end drive after rebounding a Chris Paul 3-point miss with 29 seconds left. Castle stuck to the Thunder star’s right side and when SGA rose for what appeared to be a certain basket, Castle timed his jump and hit the ball just as SGA released it.

“I didn’t know which side he was going to go up on,” Castle said. “But I just tried not to let him get around me or push me out of the play so I could go up and try to contest it.”

That he should produce the most timely defensive stop of the game was fitting on a night where Castle struggled on the offensive end. He scored 10 points but was 3-of-13 shooting and 1-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc and committed a team-high seven turnovers. He atoned a bit with a season-high eight assists, but the fact that Johnson stuck with him for a team-high 34 minutes, 40 seconds underscores the belief the Spurs basketball staff has that Castle is on his way to stardom.

“There’s no way to get experience without experience, right?” Johnson said. “It’s one of those tough deals and he made great plays. He made some younger plays or inexperienced ones, but so did the older guys.”

Sochan is not likely to return until mid-December at the earliest. Until then, Castle will continue to log starters’ minutes, up to 30 per game. game. That should give him a chance to impress the point guards on the various NBA rookie ladders that have yet to rank him above 10th in his rookie class.

There is no mystery to his low ranking so far. He got off to a terrible start on the offensive end of the floor. Through his first seven games, he went 15 of 48 (31.3 percent) from the field and an awful 2 of 16 (12.5 percent) on 3-pointers.

Since becoming a starter, he has improved his offensive efficiency. In his eight starts, he has made 37 of 85 shots (43.5 percent) from the field and 13 of 38 (34.2 percent) on 3-pointers. He averages 9.9 points per game. match.

Much of Castle’s improvement can be attributed to his use of a move variously called the “slow step” or “decel,” something of a hybrid of Manu Ginobili’s Euro step and Steph Curry’s hesitation dribble. The slow step’s top performer, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić, uses it and is an MVP contender.

Castle learned the slow step under the guidance of Mike Noyes, the Spurs assistant who is the team’s player development coach. Noyes, like Castle, was a former UConn guard and joined the Spurs in July after spending six years with the Memphis Grizzlies, most recently as director of player development.

“I started working on (the slow pitch) with Mike my first week out here, right after the draft,” Castle said. “He kind of taught me that. I’ve just started using it a lot more recently, but I’ve had it for a bit now.”

It was Castle’s defensive work at UConn that stood out to NBA talent evaluators, including Spurs general manager Brian Wright and his subordinates. His defensive aggression and demeanor during the preseason stood out to head coach Gregg Popovich, who referred to Castle as a “tough nut” on more than one occasion.

Popovich, now recovering from a mild stroke he suffered on Nov. 2, was among those in the basketball operations department who had confidence Castle’s offensive ability would blossom over time. Castle appears to be climbing the offensive learning curve faster than expected, likely because he has accepted the challenge and responsibility of being a starter in the association.

“I feel good, just leaning on my coaches and teammates,” Castle said. “They always put me in good positions to be successful. They make the game super simple for me, just go out there and focus on our philosophy, just trust that. It’s been helpful.”

Castle has another trait valued by Popovich: moving from one play to another without letting success or failure affect his game. His stoic demeanor is reminiscent of famed Spurs star Tim Duncan.

“I try to stay as even-keeled as possible,” Castle said. “My dad always preached about having short-term memory. Not hanging your head on a bad play, knowing I can make up for it on the next possessions. Just always looking ahead in the game.”

Castle’s father, Stacey, was teammates with Duncan for one season at Wake Forest.

Castle continues to get plenty of advice from former Wake Forest stars. He shares the back seat with Chris Paul, who stays in his ear from start to finish of every game.

“Steph probably gets tired of me talking to him all day long,” Paul said, “you know what I mean? But I hope he doesn’t because I envy him for his skills and I think his maturity, right? He just turned 20, but he seems like a 30-year-old man. He’s just really good at both ends of the court. He’s determined, he’s a competitor and all game long when you see me talking to him, I’m probably telling him to shoot the ball, be aggressive or whatever.

“And I guess I remember the days when I was a lot faster and downhill and passing people and I know what he’s capable of. I just try to stay with him and when he makes mistakes we live with that because it always comes from a good place.”

The Spurs are confident that the No. 4 pick in the 2024 draft was a good place to be as Castle remained on the draft board. Like LeBron, they saw something special in Castle and still do.

(Photo of LeBron James and Stephon Castle: Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images)