Stephon Castle had been playing for a professional sports team for only a few months last year when the then-20-year-old began considering owning a piece of another.
A 6-foot-6 guard, Castle was finishing his first season with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs last spring when his agent, Joe Smith, and father, Stacey, ran an investment opportunity past him. Such approaches are common for newly minted millionaires, such as NBA rookies. But this one felt different.
Andre Swanston, one of only a handful of Black majority team owners in all of North American professional sports, wanted Castle to join the ownership group for a new soccer franchise in Connecticut. Castle was raised in Georgia but had committed to play at the University of Connecticut before his junior year of high school, and in 2024 won an NCAA championship in his lone collegiate season. The state has become a “second home,” he said.
“Everything kind
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