By Jeph Duarte | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-06-09 19:04:14
问问任何一位运动员，没有什么比为家乡球队效力更美妙的了。但如果你是在家乡代表客队挑战家乡球队，而且你的家乡还拥有体育界最大、最历史悠久的豪门之一，那会是怎样一种体验？在西部决赛抢七大战结束后，马刺队前锋、纽约当地人朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 表达了他对在纽约市出战NBA总决赛的期待。
“那是每个孩子的梦想，那是每个孩子的梦想。我记得我第一次在麦迪逊广场花园打球时的情景。当时我还在圣约翰大学，整个人都惊呆了，惊叹于曾有多少伟大的传奇在这里诞生，也深知这对于一个来自这座城市的孩子意味着什么。而现在，我们能够在这里争夺总冠军——这对我个人而言意义非凡，真的意义非凡……能够回到那里竞争总冠军，没有比这更棒的感觉了。”
周一晚上，他的梦想成真了。他作为总决赛的一员重返麦迪逊广场花园，迎战家乡球队纽约尼克斯。在周二下午的马刺媒体采访环节中，他被问到：“在俄克拉荷马城的抢七大战之后，你曾被问及重返纽约的感受。现在到了总决赛，既然你已经体验过了，能分享一下昨晚在场上打球是什么感觉吗？”
“是的，这真的很酷。显然我们必须赢下比赛，这是最重要的事情，尤其是在大比分0-2落后的情况下。当我第一次跑进球场，看到所有的名人、球迷，听到震耳欲聋的呼喊声和音乐时，那种感觉绝对是超现实的，我会受用一生。但这真的很酷，”他回答道。
尚帕尼出生于史泰登岛，高中在布鲁克林打球，于2019年至2022年就读于圣约翰大学。2020年，他入选了大东联盟最佳新秀阵容。次年，他与泽维尔大学的扎克·弗里曼特尔 (Zach Freemantle) 共同当选大东联盟最快进步球员。在2021年和2022年，尚帕尼均入选了大东联盟最佳阵容。
在2022年选秀大会上落选后，尚帕尼与费城76人签下了一份双向合同。本赛季早些时候，他透露，在选秀之夜苦苦等待却始终没有听到自己的名字，这让他非常难受。
“说实话，我以为一切都结束了。在没有任何警告、没有任何解释的情况下被裁掉，这真的很艰难。那是一个难熬的夜晚。显然，我哭得很伤心，也感到非常愤怒，但这反而激发了我内心的斗志。”
他仅代表76人出战了两场比赛，共上场7分钟，随后在2023年情人节那天被无情裁掉，而76人这样做仅仅是为了腾出一个阵容名额，好让麦克·麦克朗 (Mac McClung) 代表他们参加NBA全明星扣篮大赛。两天后，马刺从裁员名单中认领了尚帕尼。
从那以后，他与马刺签下了一份4年1200万美元的合同，这对马刺来说是一笔极其划算的交易。在过去的三个赛季中，他展现出了自己的实力，证明了自己未来有能力拿到更大的合同。尽管如此，他依然非常感激马刺在他的成长中所起到的作用、对他的信任以及他与球队的契合度。
“我想留在这里。这就是我想说的。我想留在这里，我热爱这里。我爱我的队友，爱教练，爱管理层，爱这里的每一个人。所以我会继续做好我该做的事，希望一切都能顺理成章。”
本赛季，这位土生土长的纽约人凭借自己的努力拼进了首发阵容。作为一名篮板能力出众的三分投手，他与维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)、达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 以及德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 融合得非常好。而现在，作为银黑军团的一员，他正在不断刷新纪录。
朱利安·尚帕尼在本次季后赛中已命中56记三分球，创下了马刺队史单次季后赛之旅的新纪录。
— 丹·魏斯 (Dan Weiss) (@ DanWeissPBP) 2026年6月9日
他在本次季后赛中命中的56记三分球创下了马刺队史单次季后赛的新高。他在第一场比赛中三分球10投5中，此后又在第二场和第三场比赛中合力投进了5记三分。他若能在纽约继续闪耀，将是马刺在周三扳平大比分的关键。随后，总决赛将回到圣安东尼奥进行第五场对决，马刺希望届时大比分能战成2-2平。期待他在周三的比赛中火力全开，在全体纽约人面前证明自己——或许也能顺便向76人证明，当年没有像马刺那样给他机会，是多么巨大的一个错误。
由生成式 AI 翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Julian Champagnie reflects on his first Finals appearance in his hometown
Julian Champagnie reflects on his first Finals appearance in his hometown
Ask any athlete, there’s nothing like playing for your hometown. But what is it like when you play in your hometown for the opposing team, and what about when your hometown features one of the largest and most historic organizations in sports? After Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, Spurs forward and New York native Julian Champagnie expressed his anticipation for playing in in the NBA Finals in New York City.
“That’s every kids dream, that’s every kid’s dream. I remember my first time actually playing in the Garden. I was at St. John’s and was just like in awe, of just how much greatness has gone through there and what that means for a kid form the city. Being now we get to go play for a championship — that’s personal, that’s personal…being able to go back there and compete for a championship, there’s no better feeling.”
Monday night was his dream come true, when he returned to Madison Square Garden as part of the NBA Finals against his hometown New York Knicks. During the Spurs media availability on Tuesday afternoon, he was asked, “After Game 7 in OKC, you were asked about returning back to New York. Now in the Finals, now that you’ve experienced that, could you share what it was like for you to play last night?”
“Yeah, it was pretty cool. Obviously we had a game to win, and that was the most important thing, especially being down 0-2. The initial reaction of just running out there, seeing all the celebrities, the fans, how loud it was, the music, it was definitely a surreal feeling that I’ll carry for life. But it was pretty cool,” he responded.
Champagnie, who was born in Staten Island and played high school ball in Brooklyn, attended St. John’s University from 2019-2022. In 2020, he made the Big East All-Freshman Team. The following year, he was the Big East Co-Most Improved Player along with Xavier’s Zach Freemantle. In 2021 and 2022, Champagnie made the All-Big East team.
After going undrafted in 2022, Champagnie signed a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. Earlier this season, he shared that sitting through Draft Night without hearing his name upset him.
“I thought it was over, I ain’t going to lie to you. Getting waived with no warning, no explanation or anything, it was tough. It was a hard night. Obviously, I cried a lot, was pissed, but it just fueled the fire.”
He only played 7 minutes in two games for the 76ers before being unceremoniously waived on Valentine’s Day 2023 solely for the 76ers to create a roster spot for Mac McClung to participate in the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest. The Spurs picked up Champagnie two days later off waivers.
Since then, he’s signed a 4-year/$12M contract, a great deal for the Spurs. Over the past three season, he has shown that he has the skills to receive a bigger payday in the future. That said, he appreciates that Spurs role in his development, the trust instilled in him and his fit with the team.
“I want to be here. That’s what I can say. I want to be here. I love it here. Love my teammates, love the coaches, love the front office, love everybody. So I’m going to just keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully that works itself out.”
This season the native New Yorker earned his way into the starting line-up. As a three-point specialist with great rebounding, he has blended well with Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Devin Vassell. And now, he’s setting records as a member of the Silver & Black.
Julian Champagnie with 56 3-point field goals in the most in any Spurs playoff run in team history.
— Dan Weiss (@ DanWeissPBP) June 9, 2026
His 56 made three-pointers during this playoff run is the most in Spurs franchise history. He hit 5 of 10 in Game 1 and has since added another five over Games 2 and 3. Him continuing to shine in New York is one key to the Spurs evening up the series on Wednesday before taking the Finals back to San Antonio for Game 5, hopefully tied 2-2. Expect him to come out swinging Wednesday for all of New York to witness — and perhaps to help show what a mistake the 76ers made in never giving him the chance the Spurs did.
By Jeph Duarte, via Pounding The Rock