At just 20 years of age, Castle is playing defensive chess, asserting himself as the best perimeter defender of his rookie class, and perhaps even overall defender. When he's on t

Wembanyama and Castle have since been dubbed the “Area 51” for their locked-down defense, which has propelled the Spurs to a resurgence this season. The number came from Castle’s jersey number of 5 and Wembanyama’s jersey number of 1, creating a witty nickname for two impressive defenders.

Castle learned the slow step after tutelage from Mike Noyes, the Spurs assistant who is the team’s player development coach. Noyes, like Castle, was a former UConn guard and joined the Spurs in July after spending six years with the Memphis Grizzlies, most recently as player development director.

The San Antonio Spurs have seen Stephon Castle find his stride during his rookie season in which the UCONN guard is scoring the ball more to capitalize on his elite defense.