By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-02-14 23:54:14
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
圣安东尼奥马刺队的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)与C队在2025年2月14日在加利福尼亚州旧金山大通中心举行的NBA全明星新秀挑战赛中获胜后庆祝获得NBA新秀挑战赛MVP。
旧金山 — 斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)给一些他将在周日晚上遇到的NBA传奇人物带去了一句话。
“做好准备迎接我们吧，”这位马刺新秀后卫说道。“别小看我们。我们是来赢球的。”
鉴于卡斯尔在NBA新秀挑战赛中表现出色——事实上，整个赛季都是如此——没有人会轻视他。
卡斯尔砍下12分，带领C队在周五晚上的决赛中以25-14战胜G联赛队，赢得首届全明星赛迷你锦标赛的参赛资格。
等待着卡斯尔和C队的是由勒布朗·詹姆斯、斯蒂芬·库里和凯文·杜兰特领衔的经验丰富的球队，他们将在周日的第二场半决赛中相遇。
“我们都想在周日比赛，”卡斯尔说道。“我们都想赢。”
卡斯尔荣膺MVP，他在首场半决赛中投中制胜球，然后在决赛中助攻队友完成锁定胜局的一球。
他是马刺队历史上第一位新秀挑战赛的独立MVP，此前德胡安·布莱尔在2010年被评为并列MVP。
斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)凭借出色的表现荣获#CastrolRisingStars MVP荣誉！
18 分 (决赛中 25 投 12 中)
他带领C队进入了周日的#NBAAllStar 迷你锦标赛！ pic.twitter.com/t7Bwx99PbK— NBA (@ NBA) 2025年2月15日
C队的胜利意味着马刺队将有两名球员参加全明星锦标赛：维克托·文班亚马和卡斯尔。
文班亚马赢得了2024年的年度最佳新秀奖，卡斯尔是本赛季该奖项的领跑者，尤其是在他周五的表现之后。
文班亚马表示，卡斯尔的表现再次表明了这位佐治亚州本地人最终会变得多么出色。
“从第一天起，我就知道他的比赛方式非常成熟，远超同龄人，”文班亚马周六说道。“他的表现并没有让我感到惊讶。他表现得非常出色。我们都为他感到自豪。”
在第一场半决赛中，这位前康涅狄格大学球员帮助克里斯·穆林执教的C队以40-34战胜了蒂姆·哈达威执教的T队，他在华盛顿新秀亚历克斯·萨尔头上投中一球。
半决赛的目标得分是40分。决赛是25分。
卡斯尔在7英尺高的法国人头上投篮之前，用胯下运球为他的制胜球创造了空间。
“他是一名伟大的球员，拥有一个伟大的赛季，”T队的杰米·哈克斯(Jaime Jaquez)（迈阿密的新秀）在谈到卡斯尔时说道。“他可以做很多不同的事情，非常全面。”
哈克斯表示，卡斯尔最突出的是他整体的“坚韧”。
“他总是充满侵略性，总是想赢，在每次进攻中都努力拼搏，”哈克斯说道。
在决赛中，卡斯尔助攻犹他爵士的凯昂特·乔治投中锁定胜局的一球。
“能够在两个制胜球中都发挥作用，这意义重大，”卡斯尔说道。
卡斯尔率领的球队还包括洛杉矶湖人队的道尔顿·克奈克特、菲尼克斯的莱恩·邓恩、孟菲斯灰熊队的队友扎克·埃迪和杰伦·威尔斯以及金州勇士队的特雷斯·杰克逊-戴维斯。
C队在周日将被称为坎迪斯的新秀队，以纪念WNBA传奇人物坎迪斯·帕克，他们将在全明星半决赛中面对由沙奎尔·奥尼尔选拔的球队。除了詹姆斯、库里和杜兰特之外，沙克的OG队还包括凯里·欧文、杰森·塔图姆、杰伦·布朗、达米安·利拉德和詹姆斯·哈登。
但卡斯尔和他的队友们相信他们已经准备好迎接挑战。
“我想感谢穆林教练，”他说道。“我觉得他选了一支很棒的球队。我们团结在一起。我们最终都锁定了胜局。我们只是自由发挥。”
对于20岁的卡斯尔来说尤其如此，他轻松地冲向篮筐，并将球踢给空位的队友。
这位第四顺位新秀在首场半决赛中得到6分、4个篮板和4次助攻。
“我充分利用了我的多功能性，”卡斯尔说道。
他说，C队的其他球员也是如此。
“我们的球队非常全面，”卡斯尔说道。“我们有投手，有能防守的球员。我们有埃迪在里面盖帽，特雷斯表现全面。穆林教练选了一支很棒的球队，你们看到了结果。”
点击查看原文：Stephon Castle wins NBA All-Star weekend's Rising Stars MVP award
Stephon Castle wins NBA All-Star weekend’s Rising Stars MVP award
Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs and Team C celebrates after winning the NBA Rising Stars MVP during the 2025 NBA All-Star Rising Stars Game at Chase Center on February 14, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
SAN FRANCISCO — Stephon Castle had a message for some of the NBA greats he will face Sunday night.
“Just be ready for us,” the Spurs rookie guard said. “Don’t count us out. We are here to win it.”
Given how well Castle played in the NBA’s Rising Stars competition — and all season, for that matter — nobody is going to take him lightly.
Castle scored 12 points in leading Team C to a 25-14 win over Team G League on Friday night in the championship game to gain a berth in the inaugural All-Star Game mini-tournament.
Awaiting Castle and Team C is a veteran squad in the second semifinal Sunday led by LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
“We all wanted to play on Sunday,” Castle said. “We all wanted to win.”
Castle collected MVP honors after hitting the game-winning basket in the first semifinal game and then assisting on the game-clinching bucket in the title game.
He is the first sole MVP of the Rising Stars game in Spurs history after DeJuan Blair was named co-MVP in 2010.
Stephon Castle earned #CastrolRisingStars MVP honors with two strong performances!
He led Team C to the #NBAAllStar mini-tournament on Sunday! pic.twitter.com/t7Bwx99PbK— NBA (@ NBA) February 15, 2025
Team C’s win means the Spurs will have two players in the All-Star tournament: Victor Wembanyama and Castle.
Wembanyama won the 2024 Rookie of the Year award and Castle is the frontrunner to collect this season’s trophy, especially after the way he played Friday.
Wembanyama said Castle’s performance was yet another sign of how good the Georgia native will eventually become.
“From day one, I knew he was playing in a very mature way, much more than any guy our age should,” Wembanyama said Saturday. “His performance did not surprise me. It was a very strong performance from him. We are all proud of him.”
In the first semifinal, the UConn-ex handed Team C, coached by Chris Mullin, a 40-34 win over Team T, coached by Tim Hardaway, with a jumper over Washington rookie Alex Sarr.
The target score to reach in the semifinal games was 40. It was 25 in the final.
Castle cleared space for his game-winning shot with a between-the-legs dribble before sinking it over the 7-foot Frenchman.
“He is a great player, having a great season,” Team T’s Jaime Jaquez, a rookie with Miami, said of Castle. “He can do so many different things, very versatile.”
Jaquez said what stands out most about Castle is his overall “tenacity.”
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“He’s always aggressive, always wants to win, plays hard every possession,” Jaquez said.
In the championship game, Castle set up Utah’s Keyonte George for the game-clinching bucket.
“To be a part of the game-winning bucket in both, it means a lot,” Castle said.
Castle led a team that also included the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dalton Knecht, Phoenix’s Ryan Dunn, Memphis teammates Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells and Golden State’s Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Team C, which will be called Candace’s Rising Stars on Sunday for WNBA great Candace Parker, will face a team drafted by Shaquille O’Neal in the All-Star semifinal. In addition to James, Curry and Durant, Shaq’s OGs includes Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Damian Lillard and James Harden.
But Castle and Co. believe they are ready for the challenge.
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“I want to give thanks to coach Mullin,” he said. " I feel like he drafted a great team. We all came together. We all locked in at the end. And we just played free."
That was especially true of the 20-year-old Castle, who drove to the rim with ease and also kicked the ball out to wide-open teammates.
The fourth overall pick finished the first semifinal with six points, four rebounds and four assists.
“I used my whole versatility to my advantage,” Castle said.
He said the same was true of the rest of Team C’s roster.
“Our team was super versatile,” Castle said. “We had shooters, guys that can defend. We had Edey in there blocking shots, Trayce being versatile. Coach Mullin drafted a great team, and you see the result.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News