{"id":678175,"date":"2026-06-01T16:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/678175\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T16:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:41:12","slug":"julian-champagnies-hard-work-pays-off-with-nba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/678175\/","title":{"rendered":"Julian Champagnie’s hard work pays off with NBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 Julian Champagnie<\/a> cried after he wasn\u2019t selected during the 2022 NBA draft in his hometown of Brooklyn. Eight months later, he thought his NBA career was over before it truly started after the Philadelphia 76ers waived him to make room for a slam dunk contest participant.<\/p>\n

Champagnie was subsequently claimed off waivers by the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> with nothing guaranteed long-term.<\/p>\n

After going undrafted, Champagnie has made his basketball dream come true: Now the Spurs forward is going to the 2026 NBA Finals<\/a> to play against his hometown New York Knicks.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever give up,\u201d Champagnie told Andscape as he walked back to the Spurs locker room at Paycom Center late Saturday night. \u201cI know it might sound a little clich\u00e9. Just never give up. You have to keep hooping. You got to keep going. You got to keep grinding. Find your spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when you find your spot, hold onto it. Keep it. Don\u2019t let go of it. Work hard. Be honest. Be coachable. Just give yourself to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Champagnie scored 20 points and made six 3-pointers as the Spurs defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103 in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. He joined Klay Thompson (2016) and Stephen Curry (twice) to become the only players in NBA history to knock down at least six triples in a conference finals Game 7. Only Western Conference finals MVP Victor Wembanyama (22 points) scored more for the Spurs in Game 7.<\/p>\n

Champagnie is trying to help the Spurs win their sixth NBA title since 1999, while the hometown Knicks haven\u2019t won one since 1973. Yet, despite playing in numerous games at Madison Square Garden while at St. John\u2019s University, Champagnie didn\u2019t grow up a Knicks fan. As a kid, he said he was a fan of whichever team NBA star Kevin Durant played for, and that the only Knicks game he attended before making the NBA was when he was 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get to play in front of a lot of my family,\u201d Champagnie said. \u201cMy family hasn\u2019t come to no games yet; I\u2019ve been keeping it strictly basketball right now. And when the Knicks made the championship, I told them, \u2018Well, if we get this done, you guys can come to everything if you want to.\u2019 \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s up the block. I passed by there so many times. I played in there so many times, so being able to go back there and compete for a championship, there\u2019s just no better feeling.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"JulianChampagnie\u2019s 20 points in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals were just two behind Victor Wembanyama for the most on the Spurs.<\/p>\n

Zach Beeker\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Julian and his twin brother, Justin, a Washington Wizards guard, were born in Staten Island, New York, on June 29, 2001. After both starred at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn, Justin played in college at Pittsburgh and Julian went to St. John\u2019s, where his father, Ranford, played soccer.<\/p>\n

Julian Champagnie produced for at St. John\u2019s immediately. The two-time All-Big East Conference selection averaged 19.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.1 blocks per game during his junior season in 2021-22, after which he declared for the draft.<\/p>\n

The 2022 NBA draft was in Brooklyn at Barclays Center, but Champagnie was on the draft bubble and watched on TV from his nearby family home rather than sitting in the stands of the arena. That was a good decision, as Champagnie went undrafted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was literally in the back of the crib in the corner crying,\u201d Champagnie told Andscape. \u201cI was tight. I was p\u2011\u2011\u2011ed. I felt like I did enough to get there. But you know what \u2014 and a bunch of people told me the same thing \u2014 that s\u2011\u2011\u2011 [going undrafted] don\u2019t matter. It don\u2019t matter. It makes it a little harder. But it makes it a little more me. It makes it a little more personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 76ers signed Champagnie to a two-way contract on June 24, 2022. The 6-foot-7, 217-pound forward averaged 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in 18 games with the 76ers\u2019 G League affiliate Delaware Blue Coats during the 2022-23 season. Champagnie made his NBA debut on Nov. 22, 2022, but he went scoreless in two games in a 76ers uniform.<\/p>\n

San Antonio Spurs coach Mitch Johnson earns ‘full trust’ of legendary franchise \u2013 AndscapeRead now<\/a><\/p>\n

On Feb. 14, 2023, the 76ers waived Champagnie specifically to sign Mac McClung to a two-way contract, allowing the latter to represent the team in the 2023 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I was gone [from the NBA] bro, I ain\u2019t going to lie to you,\u201d Champagnie told reporters. \u201cI was always told how small the window is to get your foot in the league and stay there and make a career for yourself. To get an opportunity only in the G League and getting waived with no warning, no nothing, no explanation or anything was tough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough for a 22-year-old kid who was just thinking of chasing my dreams and telling myself I can do this. I didn\u2019t have any clue where I was going to end up. My agent told me it could be anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spurs claimed Champagnie off waivers on Feb. 16, 2023, and he went on to average 11 points and 4.0 rebounds in 15 games with the Spurs during the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n

On his mentality with the Spurs, Champagnie told Andscape: \u201cJust make it work. No matter what happens. No matter what it is. Make that s\u2014 work. Be coachable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Julian Julian Champagnie credits former San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for giving him the big break and confidence to make it in the NBA. <\/p>\n

Jesse D. Garrabrant\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Champagnie credits former Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for giving him the big break and confidence to make it in the NBA. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer stepped down as the Spurs\u2019 head coach on May 2, 2025, months after suffering a stroke. Popovich coached the franchise to five titles and has the most coaching wins in NBA history.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Pop was here and I heard nothing but great things about him,\u201d Champagnie told Andscape. \u201cThey would always tell me, \u2018If you\u2019re good, a good person and a good player and be on his side, you\u2019ll play.\u2019 So, I always made it a point to be on his good side. Do the right things. Listen. Be coachable. He gave me a chance. Thanks to him. I owe everything to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spurs re-signed Champagnie to a four-year, $12 million contract during the 2023 offseason. He has been a fixture in San Antonio\u2019s starting lineup since. Champagnie played in all 82 games for the second season in a row and averaged career-highs in points (11.1), rebounds (5.8), and assists (1.5) per game.<\/p>\n

He sparked the Spurs in their big Game 7 win by scoring 18 of his 20 points off 3-pointers. Champagnie will be eligible to sign a four-year, $87 million contract extension with the Spurs if his $3 million team option for next season is not exercised.<\/p>\n

\u201cJulian\u2019s amazing. He deserves everything that he gets,\u201d Wembanyama told reporters. \u201cAnd he\u2019s the type of guy that makes you want to die for him on the court, because he gives so much effort, and he\u2019s got such an amazing story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Champagnie said: \u201cI\u2019ve seen the ups, downs and in-betweens. So being able to push through and get there today is surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper ‘all business’ on court in Western Conference finals \u2013 AndscapeRead now<\/a><\/p>\n

When the buzzer sounded on the big win and the Spurs officially advanced to their first Finals since 2014, Champagnie reflected to when he was in New York City playing for St. John\u2019s and dreaming about making it to the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was literally thinking about my first year at St. John\u2019s,\u201d Champagnie told Andscape. \u201cA kid playing basketball, hooping, not knowing what was going on. At the end of that year, I made a commitment to myself. I said, \u2018You know Julian, you don\u2019t want to work a regular job after this. You want to play basketball for a living.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat summer going from my freshman to my sophomore year I made my biggest jump. I got in the gym. Locked in and stuck to it. Didn\u2019t waver. Put the work in. Excuse my language, but that s\u2014 paid off. Staying the course. Not being too high or too low. That s\u2014 pays off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marc J. Spears is the senior NBA writer for Andscape. He used to be able to dunk on you, but he hasn\u2019t been able to in years and his knees still hurt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 Julian Champagnie cried after he wasn\u2019t selected during the 2022 NBA draft in his hometown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-678175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}