“Certified bucket-getter” – NBA fans hyped as Stephon Castle keeps Spurs’ Rookie of the Year streak alive

San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle won the 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year award. The Spurs have back-to-back ROTY winners for the first time since the Minnesota Timberwolves did it. In 2015, Andrew Wiggins earned the award, and Karl-Anthony Towns was the recipient the following year.

Castle received 92 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place vote for the award. Many voters believed he was the top-performing rookie of this season.

The 6-foot-6 guard put on a show for the Spurs after playing 81 games. He averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Castle led all rookies in scoring and was fourth in assists.

After Castle won the award, fans congratulated him on X (formerly Twitter).

“Steph’s gonna be a certified bucket-getter, no cap 🔥” a fan said.

“Spurs have back-to-back Rookie of the Year award winners 🔥” another fan commented.

“Well deserved, by the end of the season you would forget he was even a rookie that’s how good he was playing,” one fan said.

However, other fans thought other rookies deserved the award.

“They gave ROTY to vibes, not buckets,” a fan posted a photo of LA Lakers’ Dalton Knecht.

“Only won it because the best player in the draft class Jared McCain got injured,” another fan said.

“But I was told that Zach Edey is the best rookie in the class,” one fan commented.

The 2024 class showcased some of the most productive rookies. Players like Zach Edey, Ryan Dunn and Zaccharie Risacher are some of the valuable first-year players. However, Stephon Castle stood out and was the best.

Winning the ROTY award was one of Stephon Castle’s goals this season

Winning the Rookie of the Year award indicates that a player had a great start to their career. That’s what Stephon Castle displayed in his first year in the NBA.

When it was announced that he won the award, he was interviewed by TNT’s “Inside the NBA.” The crew asked Castle if winning the award was one of his main goals in his rookie year. According to the former UConn guard, he wanted to earn the accolade from the start of his career.

“Definitely,” Castle said when asked by Shaquille O’Neal if he was set on winning the ROTY award. “Especially coming in, with all the confidence I have in myself as a player. That was definitely a goal of mine from day one. I’m just happy I was able to execute it.”

Stephon Castle forms a dynamic duo with Victor Wembanyama, who was last year’s Rookie of the Year. In his second year, Wemby made the jump to become an All-Star. The same is expected from Castle, who has shown plenty of upside.

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Reign Amurao specializes in basketball at Sportskeeda, bringing 3 years of experience to his role and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication.

A fervent supporter of the Phoenix Suns, Reign was hooked to their electrifying “Seven-Seconds-Or-Less” offense, which epitomizes high-paced and high-intensity basketball. For Reign, Steve Nash is the ultimate floor general, and he believes Boris Diaw could’ve been the next Magic Johnson if he had a bit more discipline. 

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash