'He Never Faltered': Why Spurs’ Success Starts with Players Like Julian Champagnie

SAN ANTONIO — The task was fairly simple: Take the mallet, bang the drum twice and wait for the clap. Then do it again. But faster.

Julian Champagnie was the ringmaster for the San Antonio Spurs' newest home tradition Wednesday night after their New Year's Eve victory over the New York Knicks. He'd practically been bullied into the role by Bismack Biyombo and Victor Wembanyama, who grabbed him by the jersey while dragging him to center court.

With no escape route, he instead threw on a deceptive smile.

"I don't want to do that ever again," Champagnie laughed afterward. "Vic can do that for the rest of his career. I don't want to do that ever again."

See y'all next year 🤪

Happy New Year Spurs fam! pic.twitter.com/Sgj43jATTl
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 1, 2026

Champagnie operated in triples that night. After three sets of swings, he got the hang of the rhythm. After three made 3-pointers, his hot hand took center stage.

The Spurs knew their bargain forward could make shots from distance; it's what led them to offer him a staying contract in the first place. But watching him sink 11 3s — a new franchise record — still carried understandable shock value.

"You don't see those types of nights too often," De'Aaron Fox said of Champagnie's 36 points, scored in as many minutes. "When he has it going, we just try to find him."

Entering Wednesday's contest, San Antonio had dropped two straight contests at home to the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers. The slump marked a stark contrast to the three wins it managed over the Oklahoma City Thunder en route to its league-wide coronation.

Emerging from a slump of his own, Champagnie made sure a two-game losing streak didn't snowball into the longest skid of the Spurs' season.

"Julian was amazing," Wembanyama said, smiling. "It was really cool."

Dec 31, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forwards Keldon Johnson (3) and Julian Champagnie (30) celebrate in the second half against the New York Knicks at Frost Bank Center. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Champagnie left his mark on history. Beyond breaking the franchise record for 3-pointers in a game, he became the first player in NBA history to score 36 points without attempting a two-point shot. He also made more 3s in a game than any undrafted player before him.

No part of his past was lost on him in the process.

“It means a lot to me to get to experience something like this,” the 24-year-old said. “A lot of guys don't get to do this in the NBA. I hold it close to my heart."

Before joining the Spurs, Champagnie played on a two-way contract for the Philadelphia 76ers. He signed with the team as an undrafted free agent with an ego bruised from not hearing his name called on draft night, similar to his twin brother, Justin.

“I cried a lot," Julian admitted. "I was pissed, but I think it just fueled the fire.”

The forward leaned on his brother after his stint with the 76ers came to an inevitable end; Justin was Julian's role model and test dummy. He was also the bearer of the good news that the Spurs had interest in signing him.

"You have a niche," Popovich told Julian early on. "You can shoot the basketball, which makes you valuable. But you’ve got to work on defense and become a complete NBA player."

Julian knew how dire it was for him to accomplish that — lest he risk being waived again and falling out of favor with the league. It lived in the back of his mind.

“Any guy who goes undrafted and gets cut in the same year," Julian told Spurs On SI, "someone who doesn’t really see the fruits of his labor, is going to be nervous."

His nerves began to shake as he hit shots. The forward dipped from his 40 percent shooting clip over his first 15 games in San Antonio to a milder 36 percent in 74 games during Victor Wembanyama's rookie season.

That season, he says, was a low point.

"Figuring out how to play in the NBA, that was pretty tough," Champagnie said. "That was the hardest part. The best part about being here is everybody pulls you through — good games, bad games, feeling good, bad — they do a good job of keeping you above water."

Dec 31, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) celebrates in the second half against the New York Knicks at Frost Bank Center. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Champagnie has since cemented himself as a rotation piece for the Spurs beyond Popovich. His contract — currently paying him just $12 million over four years — doesn't expire until the end of next season, and he's made every penny count.

"He's very comfortable and content in terms of where his shots can come from," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "If we play clean offensive basketball, he's going to get really good looks. He's in a place to take advantage of those opportunities."

Short-term memory is a necessity for any shooter. Champagnie, especially, adopted the trait knowing he isn't going to find the bottom of the basket as often as he did on New Year's Eve. But it makes the nights he does even sweeter.

"It's hard," he admitted. "But I get to turn around and say: 'You know what? Tomorrow's a new day. I'm going to go out there and do the same thing ... figure it out.'

"Basketball gods. That's what Coach Pop always said. It always comes back to you."

Champagnie has fallen victim to some of the Spurs' growing pains in Year 3 of the Wembanyama era. San Antonio has gone stretches without the Frenchman himself, as well as Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and, for the first time this season, Devin Vassell.

"Whenever one of us has to leave the game," Wembanyama began, "or one of is not making shots, somebody is going to take their place, hold everybody else to the standard."

Dec 19, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) shoots against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Lackluster rebounding, team defense and the absence, at times, of an even mindset — especially after statement wins — have befallen the Spurs in their single-digit number of losses this year. It's why they treated Champagnie's shooting slump as moot.

"You aren't going to play well every game," Fox said of the NBA's lengthy seasons. "Even in a week, you're probably going to play bad once. When you go through those slumps, you have to be professional. You still show up. You still work on your craft, and when your number is called, you still have to try to produce."

Champagnie has more than stepped up to the challenge.

"He hasn't faltered," Fox said. "He continues to do what we want him to do, and what we need him to do ... that's being a professional."

Since being waived by Philadelphia on Valentine's Day 2023, Champagnie has been on a mission to prove he belongs. He's one of the first off the bench for Johnson, but the de facto starter when one of his teammates sits out.

Excited isn't the right word to describe his starts. But it's certainly an honor.

"I want to be that guy for the team," Champagnie said. "I want to be the guy that they can rely on to fix any problem they have. That's my goal. When I get to start when guys go out, it's a pat on my back saying: 'You're doing the right thing.'"

Champagnie got the same validation from the crowd at Frost Bank Center at each conclusion of his two drum beats on Wednesday. Standing center court, all eyes were on him.

He might not have believed you if you told him he went from the outskirts of the league to one of the highest valued understudies in two seasons, but he knew his own shooting capabilities. That's all that was on his mind as each of his 11 3-pointers fell in.

And it's all he'll think about every game moving forward.

"I just kept shooting,” Champagnie said. “Every time they passed it, I'd shoot it.”