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Victor Wembanyama sat at the podium, shook his head and paused for a beat.
His San Antonio Spurs had just earned a hard-fought Game 7 victory over the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder, clinching a spot in the NBA Finals, and a reporter asked about teammate Julian Champagnie’s impact.
Wembanyama took a moment to find the right words.
“Julian’s amazing,” Wembanyama said. “He deserves everything he gets. 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.”
That story started in Brooklyn, where Champagnie and his twin brother, Justin — now of the Washington Wizards — grew up in Kensington and starred at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene.
It continued at St. John’s, where Champagnie was a three-year starter and standout scorer from 2019-22.
And now, after a series of twists and turns — a surprise roster cut followed by well-earned redemption — Champagnie’s story has taken him to the NBA Finals, where he’s facing his hometown team, the Knicks.
After the Knicks won the first two games in San Antonio, the series shifts to New York on Monday night for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.
“I remember my first time actually playing in the Garden,” Champagnie, 24, said ahead of the Finals.
“I was at St. John’s, and I was just in awe of how much greatness has gone through there and what that means for a kid from the city. Being that now we get to play against them for a championship, that’s personal.”
Over four seasons with the Spurs, the 6-7 Champagnie has carved out an important — if not unsung — role as a shooter and defender.
Champagnie’s ability to knock down open 3-pointers makes him a perfect complement to the 7-4 Wembanyama, who commands as much defensive attention as anyone in the league.
And Champagnie’s Brooklyn-bred swagger has proven to be a separator in these playoffs when the lights have gotten brighter and the games have become more tense.
“As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, I feel like it just gives him a certain edge and a certain toughness and a certain mindset to go into the game and be like, ‘I don’t come from much,’” Justin Champagnie told the Daily News.
“I look at it like we come from a concrete jungle, and we always have to put our backs to the wall to fight for what we want. … We’re born in Brooklyn, born and raised, played in all of these park tournaments, played in the toughest areas. The biggest stages don’t really phase us.”
It wasn’t always this way.
As his brother tells it, Julian was funny but the quieter of the Champagnie twins growing up, while Justin was a bit more outgoing.
And as The News spoke to people who knew Champagnie best at different stages of his life — his brother, his high-school coach, his lead recruiter at St. John’s — they all said he managed to level up his game whenever he became more confident.
“He’s very cerebral,” his father, Ranford Champagnie, told The News. “He thinks a lot. Sometimes he overthinks, but he thinks a lot. He tries to do the best for the big picture.”
It didn’t take long for Bishop Loughlin basketball coach Ed Gonzalez to realize the Champagnie twins were special.
Beyond their obvious talent, both had the work ethic to match. Even as a teenager, Julian’s even-keeled persona and consistency stood out.
“He was always in the gym,” Gonzalez said. “They would be here at 7 o’clock in the morning before school started, putting up shots, both of them. They would compete against one another.
“His vision — he saw the game differently at an early age. That’s what I saw. And he was an awesome teammate. It’s not on the box scores, but he was an awesome teammate. He just wanted to make everybody around him better.”
The Champagnies were well-regarded amongst the area’s high-level competition — a talent pool that included now-Knicks guard Jose Alvarado, who faced the twins while playing for Queens’ Christ the King.
But while Julian was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2019, his brother was considered the better college prospect.
Justin committed to Pittsburgh, while Julian, not receiving the same level of power-conference interest, considered playing post-grad at the Brewster Academy prep school in New Hampshire.
That was until St. John’s hired Mike Anderson as head coach and Van Macon as an assistant.
Macon, who is from Queens, had continued to recruit out of New York while he was at his previous stop at Saint Louis University. He was eminently familiar with the Champagnie twins.
When Macon started at St. John’s, his first recruiting call was to Ranford Champagnie, who played soccer for the Johnnies in the late 1990s.
The Red Storm’s message to Julian was simple.
“It was more, ‘Listen, we’re gonna let you play through your mistakes. We’re gonna stick by you. As you grow, the program’s gonna grow, and we’re all gonna grow together,’” Macon told The News.
“Mike Anderson also believed in that, and he stuck to that. Julian’s whole freshman year, he stuck [with him] through ups and downs. He still stayed in his corner, and I think that’s what gave Julian the confidence to say, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to be pretty good at this.’”
Champagnie averaged 16.0 points per game in 88 appearances, including 81 starts, in his three seasons at St. John’s.
He averaged at least 19.2 points per game in each of his final two seasons and was named to the All-Big East first team both times.
“It was halfway through his freshman year when he stopped dwelling on every little mistake he made and just kind of played,” Macon said.
“As his confidence grew, he just kept doing more and more and kept getting better and better. Honestly, for some kids, once you feel like you’ve arrived, you kind of take your foot off the pedal. The better Julian got, the harder he kept working.”
Champagnie went undrafted in 2022, then signed a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers that summer.
Over 18 games with the Sixers’ G League affiliate, Champagnie played well, averaging 14.3 points per game and shooting 35.2% on 3-pointers. He made his NBA debut that season, appearing in two games with the Sixers that November.
But in a move that blindsided him, the Sixers waived Champagnie on Feb. 14, 2023, to clear a roster spot for Mac McClung.
McClung, already a G League journeyman at that point, was set to represent the 76ers in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest later that week. McClung would win that year’s dunk contest — and the next two — but has never caught on as an NBA player.
The decision left Champagnie doubting his NBA future.
“I was home, and I actually helped him move some of his stuff from Philly. Obviously, he was devastated,” said Justin Champagnie, who had been waived by the Toronto Raptors less than two months earlier.
“He thought it was the end. He thought it was over. He thought that he played amazing in the G League, and that they wouldn’t do that to him. Obviously, you don’t have to tell him, like, it’s a business. The faster you realize it, the faster you can bounce back.”
And Champagnie did.
Shortly after his release, Champagnie signed a two-way contract with the Spurs, a rebuilding team with playing time up for grabs.
Champagnie made 15 appearances for the Spurs, starting three, over the final five weeks of that season, and he impressed enough to sign a four-year, $12 million contract the following summer.
He continued to blossom in the ensuing years, developing into a reliable role player as the Spurs hit the lottery with draft picks of Stephon Castle, Wembanyama and Dylan Harper.
Champagnie made 178 3-pointers in 2024-25, then set a single-season franchise record by making 195 this season.
That included a career-best 36-point eruption against the Knicks on Dec. 31 in which Champagnie shot 11-of-17 from 3-point range.
Champagnie appeared in all 82 games this past regular season, starting 68, and averaged 11.1 points per game and shot 38.1% from deep.
He’s proven to be a perfect fit for the Western Conference champions.
“We’re a tight-knit family, and our support for each other is just as tight,” Ranford Champagnie said.
“When he’s in that kind of atmosphere, where the Spurs provide that kind of support system for him — guys are always positive, always rooting him on — it’s a family atmosphere at the Spurs. That’s what he came from and he kind of built on that.”
Champagnie has been even better in the playoffs.
He’s made multiple 3-pointers in 17 of the Spurs’ 20 playoff games.
In Game 7 against the Thunder, Champagnie shot 6-of-10 from 3-point range and scored 20 points, just two shy of Wembanyama’s team high.
And in Game 1 against the Knicks, Champagnie shot 5-of-10 on 3-pointers, tying him for the second-most made 3-pointers in an NBA Finals debut.
That game included a sequence in which Alvarado made a 3-pointer over Champagnie, and then Champagnie answered with a corner 3-pointer over Alvarado.
As the old high-school rivals made their ways back up the court, Champagnie flashed a smile as he delivered some trash talk to a nodding Alvarado.
It was a very visual reminder of just how far Champagnie has come.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” his mother, Christina Champagnie, told The News. “I’m enjoying every moment of it. It’s the best feeling in the world to see this happen for him.”
Continue reading...
His San Antonio Spurs had just earned a hard-fought Game 7 victory over the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder, clinching a spot in the NBA Finals, and a reporter asked about teammate Julian Champagnie’s impact.
Wembanyama took a moment to find the right words.
“Julian’s amazing,” Wembanyama said. “He deserves everything he gets. 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.”
That story started in Brooklyn, where Champagnie and his twin brother, Justin — now of the Washington Wizards — grew up in Kensington and starred at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene.
It continued at St. John’s, where Champagnie was a three-year starter and standout scorer from 2019-22.
And now, after a series of twists and turns — a surprise roster cut followed by well-earned redemption — Champagnie’s story has taken him to the NBA Finals, where he’s facing his hometown team, the Knicks.
After the Knicks won the first two games in San Antonio, the series shifts to New York on Monday night for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.
“I remember my first time actually playing in the Garden,” Champagnie, 24, said ahead of the Finals.
“I was at St. John’s, and I was just in awe of how much greatness has gone through there and what that means for a kid from the city. Being that now we get to play against them for a championship, that’s personal.”
Over four seasons with the Spurs, the 6-7 Champagnie has carved out an important — if not unsung — role as a shooter and defender.
Champagnie’s ability to knock down open 3-pointers makes him a perfect complement to the 7-4 Wembanyama, who commands as much defensive attention as anyone in the league.
And Champagnie’s Brooklyn-bred swagger has proven to be a separator in these playoffs when the lights have gotten brighter and the games have become more tense.
“As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, I feel like it just gives him a certain edge and a certain toughness and a certain mindset to go into the game and be like, ‘I don’t come from much,’” Justin Champagnie told the Daily News.
“I look at it like we come from a concrete jungle, and we always have to put our backs to the wall to fight for what we want. … We’re born in Brooklyn, born and raised, played in all of these park tournaments, played in the toughest areas. The biggest stages don’t really phase us.”
It wasn’t always this way.
As his brother tells it, Julian was funny but the quieter of the Champagnie twins growing up, while Justin was a bit more outgoing.
And as The News spoke to people who knew Champagnie best at different stages of his life — his brother, his high-school coach, his lead recruiter at St. John’s — they all said he managed to level up his game whenever he became more confident.
“He’s very cerebral,” his father, Ranford Champagnie, told The News. “He thinks a lot. Sometimes he overthinks, but he thinks a lot. He tries to do the best for the big picture.”
It didn’t take long for Bishop Loughlin basketball coach Ed Gonzalez to realize the Champagnie twins were special.
Beyond their obvious talent, both had the work ethic to match. Even as a teenager, Julian’s even-keeled persona and consistency stood out.
“He was always in the gym,” Gonzalez said. “They would be here at 7 o’clock in the morning before school started, putting up shots, both of them. They would compete against one another.
“His vision — he saw the game differently at an early age. That’s what I saw. And he was an awesome teammate. It’s not on the box scores, but he was an awesome teammate. He just wanted to make everybody around him better.”
The Champagnies were well-regarded amongst the area’s high-level competition — a talent pool that included now-Knicks guard Jose Alvarado, who faced the twins while playing for Queens’ Christ the King.
But while Julian was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2019, his brother was considered the better college prospect.
Justin committed to Pittsburgh, while Julian, not receiving the same level of power-conference interest, considered playing post-grad at the Brewster Academy prep school in New Hampshire.
That was until St. John’s hired Mike Anderson as head coach and Van Macon as an assistant.
Macon, who is from Queens, had continued to recruit out of New York while he was at his previous stop at Saint Louis University. He was eminently familiar with the Champagnie twins.
When Macon started at St. John’s, his first recruiting call was to Ranford Champagnie, who played soccer for the Johnnies in the late 1990s.
The Red Storm’s message to Julian was simple.
“It was more, ‘Listen, we’re gonna let you play through your mistakes. We’re gonna stick by you. As you grow, the program’s gonna grow, and we’re all gonna grow together,’” Macon told The News.
“Mike Anderson also believed in that, and he stuck to that. Julian’s whole freshman year, he stuck [with him] through ups and downs. He still stayed in his corner, and I think that’s what gave Julian the confidence to say, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to be pretty good at this.’”
Champagnie averaged 16.0 points per game in 88 appearances, including 81 starts, in his three seasons at St. John’s.
He averaged at least 19.2 points per game in each of his final two seasons and was named to the All-Big East first team both times.
“It was halfway through his freshman year when he stopped dwelling on every little mistake he made and just kind of played,” Macon said.
“As his confidence grew, he just kept doing more and more and kept getting better and better. Honestly, for some kids, once you feel like you’ve arrived, you kind of take your foot off the pedal. The better Julian got, the harder he kept working.”
Champagnie went undrafted in 2022, then signed a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers that summer.
Over 18 games with the Sixers’ G League affiliate, Champagnie played well, averaging 14.3 points per game and shooting 35.2% on 3-pointers. He made his NBA debut that season, appearing in two games with the Sixers that November.
But in a move that blindsided him, the Sixers waived Champagnie on Feb. 14, 2023, to clear a roster spot for Mac McClung.
McClung, already a G League journeyman at that point, was set to represent the 76ers in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest later that week. McClung would win that year’s dunk contest — and the next two — but has never caught on as an NBA player.
The decision left Champagnie doubting his NBA future.
“I was home, and I actually helped him move some of his stuff from Philly. Obviously, he was devastated,” said Justin Champagnie, who had been waived by the Toronto Raptors less than two months earlier.
“He thought it was the end. He thought it was over. He thought that he played amazing in the G League, and that they wouldn’t do that to him. Obviously, you don’t have to tell him, like, it’s a business. The faster you realize it, the faster you can bounce back.”
And Champagnie did.
Shortly after his release, Champagnie signed a two-way contract with the Spurs, a rebuilding team with playing time up for grabs.
Champagnie made 15 appearances for the Spurs, starting three, over the final five weeks of that season, and he impressed enough to sign a four-year, $12 million contract the following summer.
He continued to blossom in the ensuing years, developing into a reliable role player as the Spurs hit the lottery with draft picks of Stephon Castle, Wembanyama and Dylan Harper.
Champagnie made 178 3-pointers in 2024-25, then set a single-season franchise record by making 195 this season.
That included a career-best 36-point eruption against the Knicks on Dec. 31 in which Champagnie shot 11-of-17 from 3-point range.
Champagnie appeared in all 82 games this past regular season, starting 68, and averaged 11.1 points per game and shot 38.1% from deep.
He’s proven to be a perfect fit for the Western Conference champions.
“We’re a tight-knit family, and our support for each other is just as tight,” Ranford Champagnie said.
“When he’s in that kind of atmosphere, where the Spurs provide that kind of support system for him — guys are always positive, always rooting him on — it’s a family atmosphere at the Spurs. That’s what he came from and he kind of built on that.”
Champagnie has been even better in the playoffs.
He’s made multiple 3-pointers in 17 of the Spurs’ 20 playoff games.
In Game 7 against the Thunder, Champagnie shot 6-of-10 from 3-point range and scored 20 points, just two shy of Wembanyama’s team high.
And in Game 1 against the Knicks, Champagnie shot 5-of-10 on 3-pointers, tying him for the second-most made 3-pointers in an NBA Finals debut.
That game included a sequence in which Alvarado made a 3-pointer over Champagnie, and then Champagnie answered with a corner 3-pointer over Alvarado.
As the old high-school rivals made their ways back up the court, Champagnie flashed a smile as he delivered some trash talk to a nodding Alvarado.
It was a very visual reminder of just how far Champagnie has come.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” his mother, Christina Champagnie, told The News. “I’m enjoying every moment of it. It’s the best feeling in the world to see this happen for him.”
Continue reading...
