Castle follows 2023-24 recipient Victor Wembanyama and is the fourth ROY winner in franchise history, also joining David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells and Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher were the other finalists for the award.

The San Antonio Spurs have back-to-back rookie of the year award winners. After Victor Wembanyama got all the first-place votes last year, Spurs guard Stephon Castle was named the winner of the rookie award this season.

Defender Roger Ibanez said Al-Ahli's players were fully behind head coach Matthias Jaissle after the Jeddah-based side reached the final of the Asian Champions League Elite on Tuesday, three months after the German was widely expected to be sacked.