It will be a busy NBA All-Star weekend for Castle and Wembanyama.
SAN ANTONIO — It’ll be a jam-packed weekend at the 2025 NBA All-Star weekend in San Francisco for San Antonio Spurs‘ Stephon Castle and Victor Wembanyama.
The NBA announced San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle and sophomore Victor Wembanyama will play in the 2025 Rising Stars Game.
The annual showcase will feature a four-team tournament of three games that will air live on Friday, Feb. 14, on TNT at 8 p.m. CT. This is the fourth time in franchise history that the Spurs have multiple Rising Stars on its roster and the second time in back-to-back seasons.
Both young Spurs certainly deserved the nod.
Castle has appeared in 42 games (25 starts) for San Antonio, averaging 11.7 points, 3.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 0.76 steals in 25.3 minutes per game. He’s the only NBA rookie this season with at least 450 points, 150 assists, and 100 rebounds, and he’s one of just three rookies with 30-plus steals and 10-plus blocks. His 11.7 points per game rank second among the 2024 draft class, while his 152 total assists and 3.6 assists average place him third. He also leads all rookies in free throws made with 96.
Wembanyama has been named a Rising Star for the second time after participating in Indianapolis last year. The 2023-24 Rookie of the Year has played and started in 38 games this season, averaging 24.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.95 blocks, 3.8 assists and 1.10 steals in 33.2 minutes. As the only player with more than 100 blocks this season, he leads the league in total blocks (150) and blocks per game (3.95) and has blocked a shot in 77 straight contests.
Aside from competing in the Rising Stars Game, Castle will also participate in the 2025 NBA Dunk Contest.
In addition, it is expected that Wemby will be named to the All-Star West reserve unit after narrowly missing out on getting the starting job to Suns’ Kevin Durant.
New to this year’s format, the winning Rising Stars team will compete against the NBA All-Stars in the All-Star Game mini-tournament on Sunday, Feb. 16. WNBA legend Candace Parker will serve as honorary GM of the Rising Stars champion, known as Team Candace.