Despite having Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs’ journey to the NBA Finals is an underdog tale of sacrifice, unity and belief

OKLAHOMA CITY — Three hours before an elated Julian Champagnie tucked the Western Conference finals trophy safely under his arm Saturday night, the beautiful reward of a 110-103 Game 7 win, a wave of frustration was settling in.

His routine pregame 3-point gauntlet was going off the rails. No matter how the shot left his fingertips or how he positioned himself at various spots around the perimeter, the consistency just wasn’t there.

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Front rim. Back rim. Off to the side. “Oh my God!” Champagnie yelled in disgust.

At one point, Champagnie looked off in the direction of the rim as if he were inspecting it, because something surely was off with it. He even stared at his hands, moving his individual fingers, searching for an answer.

For much of the Western Conference finals, Champagnie had been searching for a similar rhythm. His floor spacing, which had meant so much to San Antonio for months, had suddenly vanished without reason.

Before his last few moments of the warmup, assistant coach Matt Nielsen spoke up.

“Layup!” Nielsen exclaimed as Champagnie’s attempt soared through the air, a reminder of how talented the 24-year-old is. The shooter he knew could knock down 25-footers in his sleep. Like layups.

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So on Saturday night, behind enemy lines with the NBA Finals within grasp, Champagnie dared to dream. He launched without hesitation or trepidation, defended like his life depended on it and stuck his nose in rebounding business it should not have been, saving his best performance for last when the Spurs needed his contributions the most: 20 points on 6-for-10 shooting from 3, six rebounds, an assist, a steal and a game-best +16.

“Julian is amazing,” said teammate and West finals MVP Victor Wembanyama, who is very much looking like the best player on Earth. “He deserves everything that he gets. And he’s the type of guy that makes you wanna die for him on the court because he gives so much effort. And he’s got such an amazing story — he got cut in the NBA a few years back. He’s had tough moments, but he keeps pushing and now he’s taken his team to the NBA…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/despite-having-victor-wembanyama-the-spurs-journey-to-the-nba-finals-is-an-underdog-tale-of-sacrifice-unity-and-belief-054614112.html

Author : Kelly Iko

Publish date : 2026-05-31 05:46:00

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