Julian Champagnie's journey from being waived by the Philadelphia 76ers to becoming a vital part of the San Antonio Spurs' rebuild is remarkable. After a tough Valentine's Day in 2023, Champagnie found a new opportunity with the Spurs and has thrived, establishing himself as a key player in their future.
Nearly two years later, Spurs guard Julian Champagnie can still recall the details of his worst Valentine’s Day ever. It was Feb. 14, 2023, the day an entire NBA team broke up with him. In the afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers waived Champagnie, who at the time was a 21-year-old rookie on a two-way contract. That night, he commiserated with his girlfriend (now fiancée) Cassidy over a maudlin steakhouse dinner. “It wasn’t that good,” Champagnie recalled, “but we tried to have fun.
” His career suddenly in purgatory, Champagnie returned home to New York and immediately got to moping. “The worst two days of my life,” Champagnie said. Forty-eight hours after the Sixers gave him the heave-ho, Champagnie’s personal pity party was interrupted by a phone call from the Spurs. Approaching the throw-everything-at-the-wall stage of their rebuilding effort – Victor Wembanyama was still a figment of the club’s wildest fever dream at that point – the Spurs wanted to sign Champagnie for the remainder of the season. His new gig started the next day. “I didn’t really know what to expect,” Champagnie said. “All I knew it was another opportunity.” Flash forward to his third season in San Antonio, and Champagnie’s blend of positional size, shooting and defensive moxie have cemented him as an integral part of the Spurs’ Wembanyama project. Heading into Thursday’s game against Atlanta at the Frost Bank Center, Champagnie was averaging a career-high 12.8 points. He leads the team with 68 made 3-pointers. The 6-foot-8 Champagnie has appeared in and started each of the Spurs’ first 26 games, joining established veterans Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes as the only members of the team to reach that mark in either category. Champagnie been good enough that it has been impossible to bump him from the starting five, even as the Spurs’ wing rotation approaches full healt
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