Meet (Meat?) Sauce Castillo

I don’t need to tell you who Sauce Castillo is.

I will, but I don’t need to. Odds are you and everyone else who’s reading this is already well aware.

It started with a tweet.

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

And, well, here we are.

Deadspin did an amazing job finding the closed captioning sequence, which you can see in its entirety here, but for our purposes, this screen shot will do just fine.

Meet @SacramentoKings rookie guard N̶i̶k̶ ̶S̶t̶a̶u̶s̶k̶a̶s̶ Sauce Castillo ... http://t.co/YMimlWzQhB #Kings pic.twitter.com/yiyDwoeoh3
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) March 26, 2015

The Sauce Castillo movement is like a runaway train at this point. There is no stopping it now. Sorry not sorry, Nik.

It’s already sprung some amazing fan art like this one by way of Sactown Royalty.

RT “@jessestout: @Aykis16 @kfippin @CarmichaelDave @sactownroyalty I see your Dos Equis and raise you a Tapatío pic.twitter.com/q5x6bVze2S”
— The Ghost of Sactown Royalty (@sactownroyalty) March 26, 2015

We are in uncharted territory right now. We haven’t had a nickname this strong since, well, ever. I don’t think anyone can really pinpoint why Sauce Castillo is Nik Stauskas, or why Nik Stauskas is Sauce Castillo. It just works. I can feel it in my bones. America can feel it in it’s bones.

This isn’t going away. Last night, it was trending on Twitter in Sacramento. Today, it’s trending on Twitter across the United States. Tomorrow, it will be trending on Twitter worldwide (unconfirmed). High ranking Kings officials have essentially confirmed on twitter that merchandise is coming. Castillo’s teammates are also heavily into it.

Wheels up in PHX! Sauce is up front hearing it from the boys! Going for 5 straight tomorrow. #SacramentoProud #SauceCastillo
— Grant Napear (@GrantNapearshow) March 26, 2015

Hi Sauce Castilio, good game last night. Now make sure you bring some donuts to the bus. Thanks. @NStauskas11
— Omri Casspi עומרי משה כספי (@Casspi18) March 26, 2015

Me and my Rook, #SauceCastillo!! 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/hVWm4oLmQq
— Jason Thompson (@jtthekid) March 26, 2015

Fortunately for the Kings and Sauce Castillo, the rookie is actually starting to play basketball at a level worthy of this illustrious nickname. His numbers have skyrocketed since the All-Star break, with the most notable development being his three-point shooting. Castillo was shooting just .261 from beyond the three-point arc before George Karl was brought on board. Under Karl’s guidance, that number has risen to .452, a percentage so astronomically high for three-point shooting that it would be unrealistic to expect it to hold up for the remainder of the season, but this is Sauce Castillo we’re talking about here.

It’s been a rough year for the Sacramento Kings and their fans. I think we needed this.

Thank you, Sauce.

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