New nickname alert: How Kings rookie Nik Stauskas became 'Sauce Castillo'
On Tuesday night, away from the prying eyes of most of the NBA world — which is to say, during the broadcast of the matchup between the lottery-bound Sacramento Kings and Philadelphia 76ers — something beautiful happened. Luckily for us, Sixers fan/SPIN contributor Andrew Unterberger was there to witness it and relay it to the rest of us:
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My closed captioning just referred to Nik Stauskas as "Sauce Castillo" and I will never be able to not call him this again
— Andrew Unterberger (@AUgetoffmygold) March 25, 2015
Deadspin went back and pulled the closed-captioned footage from Tuesday night, and sure enough, the Kings were on that Sauce:
Being a right-minded individual, I instantly loved the idea of calling Nik Stauskas "Sauce Castillo."
There haven't been very many positive experiences in this rookie season for Stauskas, whom the Sacramento Kings selected out of Michigan with the eighth pick in the 2014 NBA draft to provide an instant jolt of 3-point shooting and playmaking to their largely punchless backcourt, only to see him struggle mightily with his shot and confidence as the team has cycled through coaches, philosophies and rotations in a "circus" of a campaign. Talking about Stauskas hasn't been much fun since the season started. Sauce Castillo could change all that.
I felt like it was important to do what I could to make that happen.
Please, call him Sauce. https://t.co/PsQ29zg1gO MT @SHowardCooper: Rookie Ladder: Nik Stauskas, amid instability. http://t.co/wDLMGdToGJ
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) March 25, 2015
As luck would have it, the closed-captioning gods were with us again during the Kings' Wednesday night win over the Phoenix Suns:
@NStauskas11 the closed caption called you "Sauce Castillo" tonight. Just a warning. Might want to get used to that nickname. We like it.
— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) March 26, 2015
After a second straight night of Sauciness, Castillo chatter picked up. Kings fans, as is their wont, got pretty into the new nickname:
#saucecastillo is now trending in #Sacramento http://t.co/B5B5pwxJvY
— Trends Sacramento (@TrendsSacto) March 26, 2015
@Aykis16 @kfippin @CarmichaelDave @sactownroyalty I see your Dos Equis and raise you a Tapatío pic.twitter.com/21EYq9afYO
— Jesse Stout (@jessestout) March 26, 2015
And local media began deploying the new moniker:
Lots of @SacramentoKings highlights coming up at 11, including from Sauce Castillo who was one of 7 Kings in double figures in scoring.
— Bryan May (@BMayNews10) March 26, 2015
"Sauce Castillo" shot chart er I mean Stauskas 13 points 5-7 FGs, 2-3 3FGs, 1-1 FTs #Kings v #Suns #NBA #SacKings pic.twitter.com/R80oIFHupI
— Bill Herenda (@billherenda) March 26, 2015
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... as did the Kings' radio play-by-play man and in-arena announcer:
Unsubstantiated report: reason the bear got caught in the tree....too much Sauce Castillo!!
— Gary Gerould (@ggerould) March 26, 2015
"DEMARRRRRCUUUSSSSSSS COOOOUUUSSSSSSINNNNNNSSSS... The assist: Sauce." #SauceCastillo
— Scott Moak (@AnnouncerScott) March 26, 2015
... and, in a final show of acceptance, so did the Kings' official Twitter account:
Sauce Castillo spins and wins! 👌👌 https://t.co/CY54L0aJtQ
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) March 26, 2015
This pleases me.
From @AUgetoffmygold's closed captioning to the Kings' Twitter account in two days. Sauce Castillo lives.
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) March 26, 2015
What remains unclear, though, is whether it pleases Stauskas.
Wait what does "Sauce Castillo" mean? Since when was that my nickname lol!! 😂😂
— Nik Stauskas (@NStauskas11) March 26, 2015
Lol this Sauce Castillo thing escalated way too quickly!!!
— Nik Stauskas (@NStauskas11) March 26, 2015
Ultimately, though, that doesn't even really matter. If everyone else is on-board, Stauskas will remain Sauce.
Hi Sauce Castilio, good game last night. Now make sure you bring some donuts to the bus. Thanks. @NStauskas11
— Omri Casspi (@Casspi18) March 26, 2015
Me and my Rook, #SauceCastillo!! 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/hVWm4oLmQq
— Jason Thompson (@jtthekid) March 26, 2015
This is a good thing, Nik Stauskas. It might even be the best thing that's happened to you as a pro. Embrace it. Steer into the skid. Drink deeply of the Sauce. It'll set you free.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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