San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle said the Rising Stars MVP trophy he won on Friday night isn’t the only award he hopes to take home during NBA All-Star Weekend.
Castle helped Team C, coached by Chris Mullin, defeat Team G League, coached by Jeremy Lin, in a 25-14 victory in the final. He scored 11 points and made one of his three assists on Utah Jazz rookie Keyonte George’s game-winning 3-pointer.
Team C won their first group game when Castle hit the game-winning jump shot to beat Team T, coached by Tim Hardaway Sr., 40-34. (In the first two games, the target score was 40; in the final, the target score was 25.)
“To be a part of the game-winning bucket in both, it means a lot,” Castle said.
The Rising Stars game, which had three teams of first- and second-year players and a fourth team with seven G Leaguers, was the beginning of a busy schedule for Castle. The 6-foot-6 guard is also competing in the dunk contest on Saturday night.
When asked what dunks he has planned for the contest, Castle told ESPN: “I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’ll just say the MVP trophy isn’t the only trophy I’m trying to take home.”
Winning the Rising Stars game also earned Castle’s team a spot in Sunday’s All-Star Game, where they will face Shaq’s OGs, a team with future Hall of Famers LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant.
“As a basketball player, it’s really all I can ask for, watching those guys all the time growing up, so to share my first All-Star Weekend with them and be able to share the court with them is a blessing,” Castle said.
Castle will join Blake Griffin as the latest players to compete in events on all three nights of All-Star Weekend. Griffin did it in 2011 as a rookie for the LA Clippers.
The All-Star Game will follow Friday’s format, with four teams of eight players competing in a mini-tournament. There will be two semifinal games up to the target score of 40 and a final up to 40. After less exciting All-Star Games in the past two years, the league has changed the format to bring back interest in the February events.
Stephon Castle (NBA)“We’re out there with nothing to lose,” Castle told ESPN when asked about his group’s chances against Shaquille O’Neal’s team, which also has James Harden, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, and Jaylen Brown. “We’re out there playing confident, playing free. So, I just wouldn’t count us out.”
Coaching for Team C will switch from Mullin to Candace Parker on Sunday. Parker, acting as the team’s general manager, selected Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson from Team M, coached by Mitch Richmond, to fill the eighth and final spot on her team.
Team G League reached the Rising Stars final by upsetting Team M in the second group-play game. Bryce McGowen of the Rip City Remix made a 3-pointer to secure the 40-39 win. McGowen’s shot happened thanks to Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons – Amen’s twin brother – missing four free throws with his team stuck at 37 points.
Castle and the Team C players earned $35,000 each for their Friday win and will get the chance to compete against some of their veteran NBA teammates on Sunday.
Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht, Phoenix Suns rookie Ryan Dunn, and Golden State Warriors second-year player Trayce Jackson-Davis will play against James, Durant, and Curry.
“I’m playing against Bron, so I get to go against one of my teammates,” Knecht said. “It’ll be a lot of fun to go out there and try to make a statement.”
When asked if there would be any trash talk between the 40-year-old James and the 23-year-old Knecht, the Lakers rookie joked: “I usually don’t start it. I usually don’t start talking. I usually try to finish it.”
