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.

Stephen Castle was not the wire-to-wire winner of the NBA Rookie of the Year award, however, by the time the race neared the finish line, he had run away from the rest of his class. Castle was the landslide winner of the NBA Rookie of the Year award,

Spurs guard Stephon Castle is the 2024-25 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year. San Antonio is the first team with back-to-back winners since the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014-15 (Andrew Wiggins) and 2015-16 (Karl-Anthony Towns).