Stephon Castle made no secret about it: He wanted to be rookie of the year.

And he got it done — by a wide margin.

The San Antonio Spurs now have back-to-back winners of the award, with Victor Wembanyama last year and Castle this season. Castle was the fifth rookie in Spurs history to score more than 1,000 points.

It was one-sided in the voting. Castle got 92 first-place votes, easily topping runner-up Zaccharie Risacher of the Atlanta Hawks and third-place finisher Jaylen Wells of the Memphis Grizzlies. Risacher got five first-place votes, Wells got the other three.

“Coming in with all the confidence that I had in myself as a player, that was definitely a goal of mine from Day 1,” Castle said on TNT, which broadcast the unveiling of the results. “I’m just happy I was able to execute it.”

Castle’s win marked the second time in more than a half-century that one franchise went back-to-back with the top-rookie honor. Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins (now of Miami) and Karl-Anthony Towns (now of New York) were voted rookies of the year in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Kings sign Christie as head coach >> The Sacramento Kings are closing in on a deal with Doug Christie to keep him as coach following an interim stint that ended with a loss in the Play-In Tournament.

Christie took over the Kings after Mike Brown was fired in late December and posted a 27-24 record in his interim stint. Sacramento made it into the Play-In Tournament as the ninth seed but lost its home game to Dallas.

General manager Monte McNair and the team “mutually parted ways” immediately following that game and Scott Perry was hired as his replacement.

Perry said he wanted to come to a quick resolution on the coaching decision, and he did that by keeping Christie in the role. The two will now try to get the Kings back to the postseason after losing in the Play-In Tournament the past two seasons.

Golf

Presdients Cup captains announced >> Former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia and Brandt Snedeker have been selected as captains for the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah, the venerable course in the Chicago suburbs that Ogilvy recently renovated.

Ogilvy will head an International team that has won the Presidents Cup just one time — in 1998 at Royal Melbourne — since the matches began in 1994.

He has been an assistant captain the last four times and played in three straight Presidents Cups. Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion at Winged Foot, now devotes a majority of his time to design work with Australia-based OCM.

Hockey

Canucks will not bring back coach Tocchet >> Rick Tocchet is not returning as coach of the Vancouver Canucks, the team announced, plunging them into another search and making him a top candidate for several vacancies around the NHL.

Tocchet’s departure comes after 2 1/2 seasons in Vancouver since replacing Bruce Boudreau in January 2023. He won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 2024 for guiding the Canucks to a 50-win season and first place in the Pacific Division.

Vancouver dealt with locker room drama between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson for several months, did not have injured captain Quinn Hughes at times and missed the playoffs.

Tennis

Swiatek advances to Madrid Open quarterfinals >> Power was restored at the Caja Magica tennis complex and the Madrid Open resumed with a packed schedule that included second-ranked Iga Swiatek advancing to the quarterfinals after a “more relaxed” day because of the blackout.

On the men’s side, top-seeded Alexander Zverev was upset by 21st-ranked Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.

NFL

Vikings extend Van Ginkel >> The Minnesota Vikings and edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel reached an agreement on a one-year, $23 million contract extension coming off his first Pro Bowl selection and a career-high 11 1/2 sacks last season.

The deal, negotiated with the Vikings by Van Ginkel’s agents Drew Rosenhaus and Jason Rosenhaus, includes $22.4 million guaranteed. The 29-year-old Van Ginkel tied with teammate Jonathan Greenard for fourth in the NFL in 2024 with 18 tackles for loss.