“Don’t Count Us Out”: Rising Stars MVP Stephon Castle Issues Warning to Stephen Curry and Team Shaq Ahead of All-Star Game

Spurs rookie Stephon Castle scored 18 points on Night One of the All-Star weekend to earn the Rising Stars MVP award. Notably, he scored 12 of Team Chris Mullin’s 25 points in the final game against the G Leaguers to earn a spot in Sunday night’s All-Star tournament.

Castle also tallied 3 rebounds and 2 assists in the finals, including a cross-court pass that led to Keyonte George’s game-winning three-pointer. Team G League, coached by Jeremy Lin, were firing on all cylinders to pull off an upset and they almost did, by going up 12-8 early in the contest.

However, Team C bounced back with a 17-2 run that won them the game and saw Castle contribute 6 points during that stretch. After receiving the MVP trophy, the rookie reflected on his team’s journey in San Francisco.

“I wanna give thanks to Coach Mullin. I feel like he drafted a great team. We all came together, we all locked in at the end and you know, we just played free,” SC shared after winning the Rising Stars MVP. “I feel like we all wanted to play on Sunday. We all wanted to win so, I mean you seen that in the last game. We were down early but we came back and fought back and won.”

He also resonated confidence about the upcoming matchup against Team Shaquille O’Neal, which boasts the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry in the lineup. “Just be ready for us. Don’t count us out. We here to win it,” Castle warned the All-Stars.

The leader in the 2o25 Rookie of the Year race would certainly be pumped to show up against Team Shaq, which many consider the favorites to win Sunday night’s tournament. However, with Candace Parker taking over the coaching responsibilities and a notable addition to their team, Castle & Co. could give the All-Stars a run for their money.

Amen Thompson joins Team Candace Parker as the 8th member

Team Chris Mullin will participate on Sunday night as Candace’s Rising Stars. Much to their benefit, sophomore star Amen Thompson will be joining the roster as the 8th member of their team.

Notably, the Rockets guard was the first pick in the Rising Stars Draft. Despite contributing 11 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds in less than 3 minutes of action, the Terror Twin couldn’t help Team Mitch Richmond register a win last night.

However, now that he will join Parker’s young squad on Sunday, perhaps Amen can contribute to winning the way he has for Houston. Along with Castle, he will join Dalton Knecht, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Zach Edey, Keyonte George, Jaylen Wells and Ryan Dunn.

The youngsters will need to go full throttle if they want to upset Team Shaq, led by hometown hero Stephen Curry and the NBA’s leading scorer, LeBron James.