Nik Stauskas embraces Sauce Castillo nickname

Nik Stauskas knocked down his first three-pointer on Friday night and Sixers public address announcer Matt Cord bellowed that the shot was hit by "Sauce Castillo." Stauskas' closed-captioned nickname had officially followed him to Philadelphia.

"I embrace it as much as the fans embrace it," Stauskas said. "If the fans are all for it, then I'm all for it. If it dies down, then it dies down. But if the fans like it, then cool."

Stauskas picked up the moniker after "Sauce Castillo" replaced his name last season on closed captioning of a Sacramento Kings game. Oddly enough, the game happened to be against the Sixers, the team he was traded to in July.

"Everyone on Twitter was tweeting at me 'Good game Sauce' and I had no clue what was going on," Stauskas said. "So I asked them. I asked Twitter 'What is Sauce Castillo?' And they explained it to me. So I kind of just embraced it. And when I embraced it, it caught on even more."

Stauskas partnered with a sauce company last April to release his own hot sauce. The website's description says the $4.99 Sauce Castillo hot sauce is sweet, smoky, and spicy. "Much like its namesake, this sauce is on fire," the website says.

Stauskas even dabbed a basketball with hot sauce in the video introduction before the Sixers season opener. The nickname is getting a foothold in Philadelphia. And it's not just being spread by the public address announcer.

"I call Jahlil Okafor 'Big Sauce' and he calls me 'Little Sauce'," Stauskas said. "Even the coaches will call me 'Sauce' sometimes."