Stephon Castle Makes Honest Admission After Spurs' Double-OT Win

The San Antonio Spurs fought an all-out battle Monday night in Oklahoma City, battling the defending champion Thunder into double overtime, and coming away with a hard-fought 122-115 victory.

Victor Wembanyama had a legendary night, scoring 41 points and grabbing 24 rebounds to lead the Spurs. Teammate Stephon Castle contributed 17 points, but also was the facilitator for his team’s offense with 11 assists, many of which were impressive passes to find teammates for easy scoring.

However, it’s also easy when you have one of the tallest and best players on the planet on your side, with Wemby seemingly dunking with ease on the OKC defenders throughout the night.

Even Castle admitted that after the game, but also revealed, “That was the hardest game I ever played in my life!”

“Went to double overtime. Had multiple chances to get it done, but it’s easy when you’ve got the best player in the world as your teammate,” he said on the way to the locker room.

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“I knew that was going in,” Castle also said, per ESPN, regarding Wemby’s incredible shot from just past halfcourt.

He also called him the “greatest player in the [expletive] world,” briefly crashing Wemby’s postgame interview on the court.

Those sorts of statements speak to the abilities and talent that the Spurs’ former No. 1 draft pick possesses, and he’s only getting started at 22. However, there’s also a team around him, which features several other top-four picks, in Dylan Harper and Castle.

Castle’s “hardest game I ever played” admission might surprise many people, seeing as he’s been in the league for two years, but he also spent a season playing for Dan Hurley at UConn. In that one season, he also had a top-notch big man in Donovan Clingan, and they dominated opponents en route to a UConn championship.

In Monday night’s game, Castle spent 49 minutes on the court, as did his teammate Victor Wembanyama. Devin Vassell had the most of any Spurs player with 51.

Bodies were falling all over the court as players dove for loose balls, crashing into each other or into fans in the front row. Surprisingly, no major injuries occurred during the Western Conference Finals clash, as players gave it their all to fight for a series-opening win.

And if that was Game 1, it leaves fans wondering what else could happen, as this is still a seven-game series. There’s much more basketball left, but if it was the hardest game of Castle’s life, one might think it could only get harder as they try to take down the defending champions.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 7:03 AM.