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San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) goes for the layup over Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) during the second half of Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Friday, May 22, 2026. The Spurs fell 123-108 to the Thunder, who now lead the series 2-1.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) beats the drum at the conclusion of an NBA game with the New York Knicks in San Antonio, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. Champagne scored a game high 36 points to help the Spurs beat the Knicks 134-132.<\/p>\n
Marvin Pfeiffer\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) guards Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, May 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell guards his teammate forward Julian Champagnie during shootaround at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Monday, May 18, 2026, as they prepare to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie answers questions during a press conference Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Oklahoma City, a day after Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Spurs won 122-115 in double overtime to take a 1-0 series lead.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) is introduced before Game 7 of the Western Conference finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, May 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) during the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, May 30, 2026. The Spurs defeated the Thunder 111-103 to advance to the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie, from left, and guard Stephon Castle, left, watch their teammate guard Devin Vassell (24) shoot a 3-pointer during shootaround at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, May 30, 2026, as they prepare for Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs’ Julian Champagnie (30) shoots over Brooklyn Nets’ Egor D\u00ebmin (8) and Noah Clowney (21) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Frank Franklin II)<\/p>\n
Frank Franklin II\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) drives to the basket against Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (24) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo\/Noah K. Murray)<\/p>\n
Noah K. Murray\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
Growing up in\u00a0Brooklyn’s Kensington neighborhood, Julian\u00a0Champagnie spent countless hours with his twin brother Justin and their friends playing in Carroll Park near their grandmother’s home.<\/p>\n
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It’s where the Spurs forward first learned the value of being ultra-competitive, a trait that has served him so well as an improbable starter for the upstart Western Conference champions after the club claimed him off waivers midway through the 2023 season.<\/p>\n
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“Being a kid over there, it’s kind of eat or be eaten, kill or be killed,” he said of playing in pick-up games on the\u00a0borough’s blacktop courts.<\/p>\n
“That’s just the way it goes at home.\u00a0Get on the court, you figure it out. If you lose, you get off and you’re not playing for the rest of the day, depending on what park you’re at. It’s a grind. You got to put your head down. Got to be tough. You got to find a way. You got to dig deep.”<\/p>\n
Digging deep is what helped\u00a0Champagnie survive after getting cut early in his NBA career by Philadelphia. It also helped him bury six 3-pointers on his way to scoring 20 points in the Spurs’ 111-103 win over Oklahoma City on Saturday in Game 7 of the conference finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And he’s counting on doing more of it when the self-proclaimed “kid from Brooklyn” faces his hometown New York\u00a0Knicks in the NBA Finals, which will included at least two games at historic Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n
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Champagnie, 24, was born in Staten Island but grew up in Brooklyn and played high school ball for the Bishop Loughlin Memorial Lions. As a college player at St. John’s in Queens, he played in several games at MSG, including the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Big East Tournaments, a run that included scoring 26 points and hitting seven 3s in a 92-73 win over DePaul on March 9, 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s every kid\u2019s dream,\u201d\u00a0Champagnie\u00a0said of playing in the Finals at the\u00a0basketball mecca. \u201cI remember my first time actually playing in the Garden. I was at St. John\u2019s and I was in awe of just how much greatness has gone through there and what that means for a kid from the city. Playing against (the Knicks) for a championship, that\u2019s personal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor Wembanyama and the rest of Champagnie’s teammates know how much he gets up facing teams from New York after he had a career-high 36 points and set a franchise record with 11 3s to help the Spurs rally to beat the Knicks\u00a0134-132 on Dec. 31 at the Frost Bank Center in a rematch of their NBA Cup final.<\/p>\n
“Julian’s amazing. He deserves everything he gets,” Wembanyama said. “And he’s the type of guy that makes you want to die for him on the court, because he gives so much effort and he’s got such an amazing story.”<\/p>\n
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His family and friends, including his former basketball coach at Bishop Loughlin, can’t wait to cheer him on at MSG.<\/p>\n
“I was nervous when I was watching Game 7,” Edwin Gonzalez, who has coached the Lions for the past 17 years, said Monday. “When his shots didn’t go in, I cursed at the TV. I was (yelling) put a little more arc on your shots, you’ll make the next one. I am very excited. We have had so many alums calling me. I can’t be more proud of him. He’s very consistent and he’s not afraid to take the big shot if the ball finds him.<\/p>\n
“He’s no Victor (Wembanyama) or (Stephon) Castle, but I can’t be more proud of him.”<\/p>\n
Champagnie isn’t the only Spurs player with ties to the Big Apple. Rookie guard Dylan Harper grew up in New Jersey and was a frequent visitor to Madison Square Garden with his father, five-time NBA champion Ron Harper.<\/p>\n
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“I’ve been to so many Knicks playoff games,” the younger Harper said. “I live 25, 30 minutes from the arena, so I know it’s\u00a0going to\u00a0be a whole lot of tickets I get asked for, but my phone will be off for that.<\/p>\n
“But just a dream come true, it’s a blessing. It’s where I’ve always wanted to play for the Finals. If you would have told me this last year, I would have told you you’re crazy.”<\/p>\n
Champagnie is proud to represent NYC’s second largest borough behind Queens. So much so it rankled him that his bios early in his NBA career stated he was a Staten Island native.<\/p>\n
“Everybody goes on Google and see it says I was born in Staten Island and they think that’s where I’m from,” he told the San Antonio Express-News in January 2024 before the Spurs played at Brooklyn. “The hospital I was born in was at Staten Island, but I have never lived in Staten Island. I don’t know who to contact to fix that because I am not from Staten Island. I am a Brooklyn baby.”<\/p>\n
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Although living in the borough had its share of challenges, Champagnie loved growing up in what he calls “BK.”<\/p>\n
“It wasn’t the easiest place to live, but I definitely didn’t have it the hardest,” he said. “I got to see a lot \u2014 a lot of good and a lot of bad. But I enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun.”<\/p>\n
Champagnie credits his parents, Ranford and Christina, for helping him and Justin stay out of trouble.<\/p>\n
Ranford coaches boys soccer at\u00a0Bishop Loughlin after he started the program at the school in 2015 when Julian and Justin were freshmen.<\/p>\n
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Christina has taught second grade at a Catholic private school for 20-plus years.<\/p>\n
“They did the very best they could and we appreciate them to the max,” said Julian, who in addition to Justin, who plays for the Washington Wizards, has a younger brother named Jaylen. “We grew up in a tough place. We are not going to shy away from that. But my parents made it work. They made everything happen for us. They kept us out of trouble, kept us in the right areas. We took it from there and just kind of ran with it.”<\/p>\n
Champagnie’s parents share their sons’ love of Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
“It’s different here,” Christina told the Express-News in 2024. “It’s the subways, it’s the city, it’s the parks the kids go play ball in. Everything is right there. I just visited Julian in San Antonio and they have to jump in a car to go everywhere. It was beautiful, but it’s just so different. In Brooklyn, you want a coffee shop, you want a pet store, you want a bodega, you want a pastry shop, you got everything lined up for you at your fingertips.”<\/p>\n
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That includes great hoops.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0“They love their basketball,” Gonzalez, Champagnie’s prep coach said. “They are passionate about what they do, adamant about their basketball. You want to outdo the next guy and you have to be tough to do it. You have to be tough to survive here and to make a name for yourself. You are not going to do that if you are mediocre. It is the nature of the beast here. You got to put your work in. (Champagnie) did that time in and time out, from getting here at school at 7 a.m to shoot with his brother to asking me if they could stay late after practice for another hour.<\/p>\n
“That’s what you remember about him, the work he put in. One thing about the family, they are passionate about what they do and they instilled it in their kids. They believe if you are going to do it, you might as well do it 100 percent.”<\/p>\n
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