Spurs’ Stephon Castle talks value of ‘tough’ coaching in 1-on-1 interview

Spurs’ Stephon Castle talks value of ‘tough’ coaching in 1-on-1 interview

Stefan your first generation NBA player but you still come from a basketball family what type of guidance did you receive from your family growing up to get you to this point uh really just to you know keep working um you know coming from a basketball family you know it’s kind of easy for me to understand what they were saying and really embrace it cuz I know that their their messages are only trying to trying to help me so um really just you know keep my head down stay humble and just really keep working so you chose to play for Dan Hurley at Yukon and it sounds like you fit in really well with the culture here in San Antonio what do you value so much about tough coaching um I mean I never really ran away from tough coaching I feel like it makes you a better person and a better player and um I mean really the main thing with that is really just listening to the message that he was giving off not really the tone that he was giving it off at and you know I I knew coach Hurley was a really smart coach and he was going to teach me how to win so you know I kind of gravitated towards them and it worked out for us and what do you look forward to in being coached by the winningest NBA coach of all time Greg popovic um I can’t wait to just you know pick his brain on a lot of things uh learn from him I mean I know he’s going to make me you know he’s going to turn me into a much better player than you know I already am and um just you know the the ability to be able to grow with you know such a highle coach like that I feel like it’s you know opportunity that any basketball player would you know would ask for reflecting on this last year for you Big East freshman of the year a national championship with the huskys and now fourth overall with the Spurs what does that all mean to you to accomplish what you’ve done in a year I mean it’s definitely a dream come true um you know just looking at all the accolades just laid out like it’s it seems like a like a perfect scenario but um you know I really just put my faith in God and you know just you know rely on you know my family with you know a lot of that stuff and you know I just really try to stay humble keep my head down but you know it’s definitely a blessing it’s been going by really fast but um you know the process has been super fun how do you feel about the current situation you’re coming into with the Spurs you have a generational talent to play with and Victor wanyama all eyeses are on the Spurs right now in the direction this franchise is headed but also recent news of Chris Paul a veteran leader coming to join the team how do you feel about where this team is at and your entry point um I mean I I love the state of our team um you know to be able to play with you know a guy like Vic um it’s you know our future is you know really really bright you know I don’t think I can speak too much on Chris Paul yet but you know just you know to have the ability to learn from you know guys like him and you know the the rest of the guys on our team is it’s going to be super fun so we’ve heard a lot about your stoic personality and how you stay very even ke why is that why is that the personality that you approach the game of basketball with yeah I said it earlier uh I think it comes from my parents you know my mom she’s she’s kind of laidback real chill but my dad he’s like more more riled up usually on 10 so I I kind of try and stay like the Baseline the the kind of middle middle of that so that’s probably where that comes from we saw a lot of Versatility with the Spurs starting lineup last year um maybe that was more so just to kind of figure things out try uh try some different lineup options maybe some more of that this year where do you see your role and and maybe how your versatility will allow the Spurs to kind of try some new things this year yeah I mean just from my versatility I feel like you know any other four players on the court I’ll be able to succeed you know whether that’s on the ball off the ball you know just you know doing whatever I can to you know help our team win at the end of the day so you know just using my versatility to my advantage is you know something that you know I can’t wait to you know expand on especially with a coach like coach pop so I just can’t wait to get the season started Stefan last question who are you most excited to face come time for your rookie season in the NBA probably one of my Yukon teammates I feel like that’ll be pretty cool so I’ll probably say either Tristen or Tristan cam or Donovan yeah awesome well thank you very much for the time appreciate it and congratulations thank you I appreciate it

San Antonio’s No. 4 overall pick Stephon Castle is having a whirlwind year where he won Big East Freshman of the Year, celebrated an NCAA national championship and became an NBA lottery pick.