Julian Champagnie wants the Larry O’Brien Trophy to come to New York this offseason. And he wants to be the one carrying it — as a Spur.
The Brooklyn native, 24, was raised in Kensington and went to high school only a short walk from the Brooklyn Nets’ arena. He stayed home to play collegiately in Queens at St. John’s. In the NBA after he was cut by Philadelphia, he was signed by San Antonio in 2023, and the former castoff has been integral in San Antonio making its first NBA Final since 2014, making six 3-pointers in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
That win set up a showdown against his hometown Knicks with a title on the line.
Champagnie made five 3-pointers in the first half of Wednesday’s Game 1 loss, but was held in check after.
“Obviously I’m from there. I lived there. I grew up there. I went to school there and all that good stuff,” Champagnie said Thursday. “Being able to bring one of those [trophies] back to the hood, it would be real good.”
So, no, Champagnie was not surprised to hear how vocal some New York fans were despite Game 1 taking place in Texas.
“I know how New York fans travel and stuff like that, so I kind of expected that,” he said.