Apr 6, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe (17) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the second half at Moda Center. Soobum Im-Imagn Images

Stephon Castle's Honest Statement on Spurs' Playoff Elimination

Originally posted on San Antonio Spurs on SI
By Matt Guzman | Last updated Apr 7, 2025 1:14 AM ET

SAN ANTONIO — Stephon Castle knows that all bets are off regarding the San Antonio Spurs this season. That doesn't mean he won't be playing hard.

“We’ve still got to fight with the five guys we have on the court," the rookie said, responding to a question about San Antonio's playoff elimination at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Spurs hit the road with zero margin for error, and while acting coach Mitch Johnson has labeled it such for a few weeks now, the phrase went from metaphorical to literal. The Spurs needed to win out and have the Sacramento Kings lose out at the same time to give themselves a shot at the final Play-In Spot in the West.

W/the #Spurs officially eliminated from #NBA postseason play following the Portland L, Stephon Castle on the ‘what if’ element had Wemby & Fox not gone down for the season…

“We’ve still gotta fight with the five guys we have on the court…”

Full answer⬇️#GoSpursGo #PorVida pic.twitter.com/zLNivCZsdY
— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) April 7, 2025

Neither side held up their end of the bargain.

"It's not anything to put our heads down about, or say 'What If?'" Castle said. "We still had a chance. We (were) still putting ourselves in position to win games."

The latter bit was true. The Spurs managed to upset the Denver Nuggets on the road a few games prior to falling short in Portland. Without Victor Wembanyama, who was ruled out on Feb. 20 with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, or De'Aaron Fox, who underwent surgery to repair ligament damage in his left fifth finger, wins were hard to come by.

Last four rookie guards with a 1,000/250/250/70 season:

Luka
Trae
Cade
Stephon Castle

Good company. pic.twitter.com/1HQwklNrGP
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 6, 2025

Still, the Spurs persevered. They didn't come out on the right side of the standings, but they have reason to head to the offseason hopeful. Especially with how Castle is shaping up to progress.

This article first appeared on San Antonio Spurs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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