By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Zaccharie Risacher settled in second place on the list of players with the most votes for the 2024-25 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year award.
Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs, topping the list with a total of 482 points, including 92 first-place votes, was named Rookie of the Year, as announced by the league on Tuesday. The 20-year-old combo guard, a former Connecticut standout, averaged 14.7 points and 4.1 assists per game over 81 appearances, including 47 starts.
A global panel of 100 voters produced five first-place selections for the 20-year-old French forward of the Atlanta Hawks. Risacher also got 64 second-place and 28 third-place votes en route to a total of 245 points. His rookie year featured 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.5 blocks per contest over 75 games, including 73 starts.
Fellow French rookie, Alex Sarr of the Washington Wizards, ranked narrowly outside the list of three finalists in fourth place. His total of 34 points consisted of five second-place and 19 third-place selections.
Lithuanian Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls earned one third-place vote for one point.
The latest recipient of the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy, Castle surfaced the Spurs as the first team with back-to-back winners since Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
French prodigy Victor Wembanyama was the 2023-24 winner. Earlier Rookie of the Year winners with the Spurs were David Robinson in 1989-90 and Tim Duncan in 1997-98.