[1][2] His Catholic maternal grandparents, Norma and Val Stein, helped raise him, and he legally changed his surname from Cauley to Cauley-Stein.

[5] Cauley-Stein started out his college career as a bench center, backing up top prospect Nerlens Noel.

During his time as a back-up, Cauley-Stein ended up averaging 7.8 points on 63.9% field goal shooting, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.0 assists, and 0.8 steals in 20 games of play.

On February 12, 2013, in a game against Florida, Noel tore the ACL in his left knee after blocking a lay-up, forcing him to sit out the remainder of the season.

Due to an injury to his leg suffered during the 2014 NCAA tournament in a game against Louisville, Cauley-Stein missed the remainder of the season.

[7] He made his debut for the Kings in their season opener on October 28, recording two points and two rebounds in a 111–104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

[13] On February 23, 2017, following the DeMarcus Cousins trade, Cauley-Stein was given extended minutes off the bench and came through with a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds to help the Kings defeat the Denver Nuggets 116–100.

[17] On June 28, 2019, the Kings extended a qualifying offer to Cauley-Stein in order to make him a restricted free agent.

[20] Cauley-Stein made his Warriors debut on October 10 against the Phoenix Suns, scoring 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting and 2-of-2 from the line, along with five rebounds, one assist, one block, and three fouls in 12 minutes.

[23] Cauley-Stein opted out of the resumed season in the 2020 NBA Bubble, as he and his partner were expecting a newborn child in July.

[28] On January 15, 2022, the Mavericks decided to waive him in order to make roster room for new signing Marquese Chriss.

[35] On July 31, 2023, Cauley-Stein signed with Openjobmetis Varese of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and FIBA Europe Cup.

[41] On May 1, 2015, Cauley-Stein officially filed a name-change order with the Probate Division of the Fayette District Court to change his birth name.

[45][non-primary source needed] In August 2024, Cauley-Stein disclosed that a serious drug addiction was the reason behind his NBA “personal leave” in 2021 and exit in 2022.

In an interview with The Athletic's Kyle Tucker, he hopes to make an NBA return and stay clean for his wife and children.