SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle will be reevaluated in one to two weeks, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania, after an MRI on Monday revealed a left hip flexor strain.
Castle, the 2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year, suffered the injury in the first half Sunday against the Sacramento Kings and was held out for the second half of that game. Castle said in the locker room afterward that he was feeling some soreness but couldn’t pinpoint when the injury happened.
“When you’re talking about muscles and soft tissue, which I know nothing about, you have to work and then see how your body responds, and then work a little bit more and see how your body responds,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said Tuesday. “I would be silly to try to sit here and predict all these guys and how they’re going to respond to the different things they’ve got going on.”
Castle, 21, has been one of league’s breakout players this season, averaging 17.3 points, 7.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds. He and injured teammate Victor Wembanyama logged triple-doubles in a Nov. 12 loss to the Golden State Warriors, making the duo the fifth in NBA history — and first for the Spurs — to each produce a 20-point triple-double in the same game, according to ESPN Research.
“We don’t sit our guys when they can play and we’re never going to risk or rush somebody back,” Johnson said. “That’s why we’re always operating how we’re operating. Hopefully we’ll get these guys back soon.”
Wembanyama attended a morning shootaround Tuesday as San Antonio prepared to face Memphis. He did not participate in team workouts but was seen dribbling and working out alone.
In other injury news, the Spurs announced that veteran guard Jordan McLaughlin underwent an MRI on Monday that revealed a right hamstring strain. McLaughlin suffered the injury during an on-court workout Monday at the Victory Capital Performance Center.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
