By Mateo Mayorga | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-12-20 21:00:00
当一个人的名字能与迈克尔·乔丹 (Michael Jordan) 和“魔术师”埃尔文·约翰逊 (Earvin “Magic” Johnson) 相提并论时，就意味着他已经做对了很多事。尤其是在职业生涯早期，这可能预示着他正在成长为一名非凡的球员。斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 是最新一位比肩这些传奇的人物，他在21岁时场均能够贡献至少18分、5个篮板和5次助攻，同时投篮命中率高达50%。
值得注意的是，阿尔佩伦·申京 (Alperen Şengün) 在两个赛季前也打出过这样的数据，而这也是NBA历史上唯一另外一次出现这种情况，其历史可以追溯到国家篮球联盟（NBL）与美国篮球协会（BAA）合并之前。
上赛季，卡斯尔还处于学习阶段，但从他扮演防守对方最佳外线威胁的角色以及在进攻端被赋予的自由度来看，他注定有朝一日会成为一名顶级球员。如今，在他的二年级赛季，他已经提前成长为一名全明星水准的球员。要用音乐来类比他这种巨大的成长，就好比你先是惊叹于齐柏林飞艇乐队专辑《Led Zeppelin》的品质，随后又被九个月后发行的《Led Zeppelin II》彻底震撼。
他令人印象深刻的数据表现并不意味着他将成为乔丹或约翰逊那样的球员，后两者是NBA历史上最顶尖的球员之二。这两位传奇之所以如此特别，部分原因在于他们在进攻端无所不能。如果有人对他们的不可阻挡心存疑虑，NBA.com 为联盟通行证订阅用户提供了一个内容详尽的经典比赛档案库，足以让人沉浸其中。
但除了都曾是大学联赛冠军之外，卡斯尔与他们还有一些相似之处：他是一名高大强壮的后卫，在场上随心所欲，并且其运动能力位列联盟前百分之一。本赛季，可能还没有任何人在单防中成功限制住卡斯尔。
马刺球迷完全可以加倍看好他将在不远的将来成为最佳阵容级别的球员，因为现在看来，这样的预期甚至都有些保守了。他的目标可能将是成为联盟前十的球员。
卡斯尔应该是联盟中仅次于维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 的第二位非卖品新星。只要他能减少失误，就有望从一名优秀的组织者蜕变为一名伟大的组织者。他的跳投也取得了长足进步，命中率提升了8.7个百分点（达到40.7%）。我敢说，这家伙可能会成为一个拥有更出色传球技巧的科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard)。
他本赛季最大的飞跃之一，是在出手占比几乎相同（占总出手的30.3%）的情况下，从一名平均水准的近距离终结者，成长为该区域的顶级得分手。随着经验的积累，比赛的节奏对他而言已经放慢，他运球杀入禁区的突破，如利刃般致命，直插对手腹地。
他目前所达到的水平让人不禁思考，他是否已经超越了德阿龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)——一位本应多次入选但仅入选过一次全明星的球员。福克斯在防守端的影响力远不及卡斯尔，他在距篮筐0-3英尺范围内的效率（66.0%）也不及卡斯尔。
以卡斯尔目前的前进势头，如果未来他在更多的统计数据类别中与名人堂成员们并驾齐驱，请不要感到惊讶。
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。
点击查看原文：Stephon Castle is doing big things, and it’s just the beginning
Stephon Castle is doing big things, and it’s just the beginning
Anytime someone finds themselves in the same sentence as Michael Jordan and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, they have done a lot right. Especially early in their careers, it could be a sign that they are becoming a special player. Stephon Castle is the latest to match those legends as a 21-year-old averaging at least 18 points on 50 percent shooting, with five rebounds and five assists.
Notably, Alperen Şengün recorded those numbers two seasons ago, and that’s the only other time it’s happened in NBA history, which stretches back to before the merger of the National Basketball League and Basketball Association of America.
Castle was an understudy last season, and it was clear he would one day turn into a big-time baller based on his role of guarding the other team‘s best perimeter threat and the freedom given to him on offense. Now he’s grown into an All-Star caliber player ahead of schedule in his sophomore campaign. A great way to quantify high growth with a musical comparison would be admiring the quality of Led Zeppelin’s album Led Zeppelin, and then being blown away by Led Zeppelin II, which came out nine months later.
His impressive stat line doesn’t mean he is going to turn into Jordan or Johnson, who are two of the top players in NBA history. Part of what made those two special is that there was nothing they couldn’t do on offense. If anyone ever has any doubts about how unstoppable they were, NBA.com has an extensive Classic Games archive for league pass subscribers that one can get lost in.
But aside from all being collegiate champions, here are some things that Castle has in comparison to them: He’s a big, strong guard who goes where he wants on the court and is in the top one percent of athletes in the league. There may not be anyone yet who has successfully clamped Castle in single coverage this year.
Spurs fans shouldn’t feel bad about doubling down on him being an All-NBA caliber player in the near future because that seems modest now. Being in the top 10 is probably where he’s headed.
Castle should be the second-most untouchable youngster in the league behind Victor Wembanyma. He’s on the verge of going from good to great playmaker when he lowers his turnovers, and has made significant strides on his jumper, raising its accuracy by 8.7 percent (40.7). Dare, I say this guy could be a version of Kawhi Leonard with superior passing chops.
One of his biggest jumps this season was going from an average finisher at close range to a top-tier scorer in that zone on virtually the same volume (30.3 percent of attempts). The game has slowed down for him with added reps, and his dribbles through the lane are as deadly as a gash from groin to brain.
The level he’s at now makes one wonder if he’s surpassed De’Aaron Fox, a one-time All-Star who should have more appearances. Fox is not making the same waves on defense that Castle is, nor is he as efficient at 0-3 feet from the cup (66.0 percent).
At the rate Castle is going, don’t be surprised if he finds himself in other statistical categories with more Hall of Famers.
By Mateo Mayorga, via Pounding The Rock