Julian Champagnie once thought the league had closed on him before it ever really opened.
He was 21, undrafted out of St. John’s, trying to turn a two-way opportunity with the Philadelphia 76ers into proof that he belonged. Then came the cut. No long runway. No warning. Just the brutal math of the NBA, where roster spots disappear quickly and young players can spend years trying to recover from one decision.
“I thought it was over, I ain’t going to lie to you,” Champagnie said, looking back on being waived by Philadelphia. “I was always told how small the window is to kind of get your foot in the league and stay here and make a career for yourself. So getting waived with no warning, no explanation or anything, it was tough.”
Two days later, San Antonio gave him another door.
The Spurs claimed Champagnie off waivers in February 2023, and what followed was not instant stardom but something harder and more sustainable: a career built through usefulness. Champagnie put his head down and made the assignment his identity. Whatever they gave him, make it work. Whatever they needed, make it work. Find the spot, then earn the right to keep it.
Three-plus years later, the kid from Brooklyn is going to the NBA Finals.
That sentence says everything. Champagnie is not merely along for the ride. In San Antonio’s Game 7 win over Oklahoma City, he scored 20 points, hit 6-of-10 from three, and became one of the decisive figures in the Spurs’ 111-103 road victory over the defending champion Thunder. In a game that sent San Antonio to its first Finals since 2014, Champagnie was the second-leading scorer on a team built around Victor Wembanyama but saved by its depth.
That is the poetry of his route. Some careers are announced. Others are assembled. Champagnie’s was assembled possession by possession, shot by shot, role by role. He went from the fear of being forgotten to becoming a trusted piece on a Finals team.
