Julian Champagnie turned a long climb to the NBA Finals into a night that will follow him for a while. He scored 20 points and hit six 3-pointers as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103 in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, sending San Antonio to the 2026 NBA Finals.
The performance put Champagnie in rare company. Only three players in NBA history have made at least six 3-pointers in a conference finals Game 7, a list that includes Klay Thompson in 2016 and Stephen Curry twice. Victor Wembanyama added 22 points for San Antonio, which is now one series win from its sixth NBA title since 1999.
This is the stage Champagnie spent years trying to reach after going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft in Brooklyn. He watched that draft on TV from his nearby family home, then said he was in the back of the crib in the corner crying after his name was never called. Eight months later, the Philadelphia 76ers waived him and the Spurs claimed him off waivers. Now he is going to the Finals with the team that took a chance on him.
Champagnie’s path feels even sharper because of where he is headed next. He grew up in the New York area, was born in Staten Island on June 29, 2001, and starred with his twin brother Justin at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn before heading to St. John’s, where he was a two-time All-Big East selection. But he said he was not a Knicks fan as a kid, even as he played and passed through the city that will now host the other side of this Finals matchup.
The contrast is hard to miss. San Antonio is chasing another championship, while New York has not won an NBA title since 1973. Champagnie told Andscape after the Game 7 win to never give up, and for him that is no slogan. It is the route from the corner of a family home in Brooklyn to the league’s biggest stage. The only question left is how he looks when the Spurs open the Finals against the Knicks.
