San Antonio Spurs' forward Stephon Castle was named 2024-25 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Award winner this week.
The former UConn Husky, Castle averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists in 26.7 minutes in 81 games.
Castle is the fourth player to win the Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Award with the Spurs, joining David Robinson (1989-90), Tim Duncan (1997-98) and last year's winner, Victor Wembanyama (2023-24).
Miami Heat big man Kel’el Ware wasn’t a finalist for the Rookie of the Year award unfortunately but, the No. 15 overall pick in last year’s draft had four third-place votes for the award. Kel’el Ware finished sixth behind Zach Edey, Alex Sarr, Jaylen Wells, Zaccharie Risacher and, the award-winner, Stephon Castle.
The former Indiana Hoosiers center averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game appearing in 64 games with 34 total starts.
During his end-of-season 'exit' interview Wednesday, after getting swept by the Cleveland Cavs, Ware had this to say about his first season in the NBA.
"“Getting stronger,” Ware said. “(My goal) it was getting stronger before the season. Still getting stronger. Until I get to that point, then it’s gonna continue to be getting stronger.”"Kel'el Ware
“It never hurts to be a better shooter in this league,”he said.“And then being more comfortable with the ball in my hands, making decisions and making plays for others. … And keep defending at a higher level. I kind of got introduced to how it was to defend these top level guys. And I think I’ve learned a lot from from this year.”
Ware spent one season at Indiana under former head coach Mike Woodson, where he averaged 15.9 points per game, 9.9 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and a recorded a field goal percentage of 58.6%.