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 enforced small ball, as Castle, 6 foot 5, filled in for the 6-8 Sochan, whose 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game had made him nearly co-equal with Victor Wembanyama as the Spurs’ most impactful player in the first week-and-a-half of the season.
To say that Castle has made the most of the opportunity understates what he has shown Johnson and his assistants, teammates, Spurs fans and one particularly consequential foe.
In the immediate aftermath of the Spurs’ 120-115 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first NBA Cup game for both teams on Nov. 15, LeBron James walked straight to the 20-year-old from the University of Connecticut for a brief, but meaningful conversation that left Castle filled with gratitude, respect and assurance that he is on a path toward 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 of recording their first-ever win in the In-Season Tournament, James left no doubt what he thought about the No. 4 overall pick of the 2024 draft.
“Keep going, keep going, man,” James said, reiterating his message. “He’s going to be special. He’s going to 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 layin over James to put the Spurs ahead 115-114.
It 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 appropriately moved by the encouragement offered by the player most of Castle’s generation regarded as the GOAT.
“I mean, to go up against LeBron, a guy I’ve been watching since I was a kid, it is definitely crazy to share the court with him,” Castle said.
James’ postgame chat with Castle included some tactical advice, as well as the admonition to “keep going.”
“Just looking at reads, continuing to do what I do, telling me what’s the next steps for reads that I make,” Castle said. “I mean when I’m getting to (the) paint, playing off two feet, just stuff like that.
“I respect him and appreciate him for coming up and saying that to me. He didn’t have to, but like I said, I’ve been watching him since I was a kid, so for him to come up to me and talk to me for even that little bit, it meant a lot.”
Not one to ignore advice from a superstar, Castle kept going on the path to becoming a special player by helping the Spurs finally get their first NBA Cup win, this time with a 110-104 win 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 remaining in what became 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 kept to the Thunder star’s right, and when SGA rose for what appeared to be a certain basket, Castle timed his leap and swatted the ball just as SGA released it.
“I didn’t know what side he would go up on,” Castle said. “But I was just trying not to let him get around me or bump me out of the play so I could go up and try and contest it.”
That he should produce the most timely defensive stop of the game was fitting on a night in which Castle struggled at 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 Johnson stuck with him for a team-high 34 minutes, 40 seconds underscores the belief the Spurs basketball staff has that Castle is bound for stardom.
“There’s no way to get experience without experience, right?” Johnson said. “It’s one of those tricky deals and he made great plays. He made some younger plays, or inexperienced, but so did the older guys.”
Sochan isn’t likely to return until mid-December at the earliest. Until then, Castle will continue to log starter’s minutes, upwards of 30 per game. That should give him a chance to impress the keepers of the various NBA rookie ladders that have yet to place him above 10th in his rookie class.
There’s no mystery to his low ranking thus 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 a horrific 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 is averaging 9.9 points per game.
Much of Castle’s improvement can be attributed to his use of a move that is variously called the “slow step” or the “decel,” something of a hybrid of Manu Ginobili’s Euro step and Steph Curry’s hesitation dribble. The slow step’s top practitioner, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić, uses it and is an MVP contender.
Castle learned the slow step after tutelage from 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 player development director.
“I started working on (the slow step) 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 little 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 subalterns. His defensive aggression and demeanor during the preseason stood out for head coach Gregg Popovich, who referenced 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 skills would blossom over time. Castle seems to be climbing the offensive learning curve more quickly than expected, likely because he has accepted the challenge and responsibility of being a starter in The Association.
“I’m feeling good, just leaning on my coaches and teammates,” Castle said. “They’re always putting me in good positions to be successful. They make the game super simple for me, so just going out there and focusing on our philosophy, just trusting in that. That’s been helpful.”
Castle has another trait prized by Popovich: moving from one play to another without letting success or failure affect his play. His stoic demeanor is reminiscent of renowned Spurs star Tim Duncan.
“I try to stay as even keel as possible,” Castle said. “My dad always preached about having short-term memory. Not hanging my 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, Casey, was a teammate of Duncan’s for one season at Wake Forest.
Castle continues to get loads of advice from former Wake Forest stars. He shares the backcourt 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’m envious of him because of his ability and I think his maturity, right? He just turned 20, but he seems like a 30-year-old man. He’s just really good on 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 whatnot.
“And I guess I remember those days when I was a lot faster and downhill and got by people, and I know what he’s capable of. I just try to stay on him and when he makes mistakes, we live with it because it’s always coming from a good place.”
The Spurs are convinced that the No. 4 slot in the 2024 draft was a good place to be when 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)
