Spurs’ Stephon Castle named Rising Stars MVP, leads his team into All-Star Game on Sunday with win

SAN FRANCISCO — It all felt a little surreal to Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht — at the end of a couple of wild weeks, he is headed to the All-Star Game, where he will face off against teammate LeBron James on one of the NBA’s biggest stages.

“All of us are about to play our first All Star game, that’s crazy. As a rookie,” Knecht said. “It’s gonna be a lot of fun. We’re gonna try to go out there and put on the show.”

Sparked by Knecht in the first game and Spurs rookie and Rising Stars MVP Stephon Castle all night long, the poorly-named Team C won the NBA Rising Stars four-team mini-tournament on Friday night. The group now advances to the All-Star Game on Sunday (for another mini-tournament).

“Whether I win [MVP] or not, I felt like it was a big goal of mine to be an All-Star,” Castle said, adding he thinks making it this way this year might slightly increase his chances of being named an All-Star in the future.

Could these Rising Stars pull off the upset on Sunday? Possibly, if for no other reason than they are likely to play hard while the regular All-Stars go through the motions before a few days off. This Rising Stars team sees themselves as disruptors and now faces off against three All-Stars teams in the funky new mini-tournament format for the 2025 All-Star Game. They talked about playing hard in an event not exactly known for that in recent years.

“We’re gonna try to go win it,” Knecht said.

At least on Friday night, the mini-tournament format did spark better competition and some defense, although this was from rookies motivated by the chance to play on Sunday (and win $25,000 per player). Players were trying and there was some defense — not exactly playoff defense, but more than past Rising Stars games (which, admittedly, is a low bar).

We’ll see if that carries over to Sunday and the NBA All-Stars.

Team C was good all Friday night. Utah’s Keynote George had a quick eight and finished with a team-high 10 for Team C in their opening win. In the championship, they went up against the Rockets’ Reed Sheppard and a team made up of G-League stars. It was a back-and-forth game, but Castle stepped up, and his team advanced.

Sunday, we’ll see if Castle and his teammates can be the disruptors they see themselves as.