Like whatever they give you, make it work, whatever they need you to do, make it work. And just find, find that spot."
Finding that spot meant becoming a much better defender.
When Champagnie got to San Antonio, it was Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich himself who sat him down and told him in language we cannot repeat here that his defense needed to get better if he wanted to play.
"In short, and TV-friendly [language], he told me that I have a niche, which is being able to shoot, but it's gonna be useless if I can't play defense," said Champagnie.
"So that was kind of the message, he pushed to me and told me to play harder, put more effort into that end of the floor.
Be more physical and be more nasty. That was the word he used, nasty."
There was no instant success — Champagnie wasn't sure this stop would work out any better than the last one.
"Absolutely not," laughed Champagnie. "Man, when I first got here, I had no clue.
I was going through a bunch of workouts, and I'm like, 'Man, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do this.'
Like, this is a whole different step from college…"
"I took it personal. I said, 'All right, well, if I want to play, I got a guard.'
That's what Pop told me.
So that's kind of how I took it, but I didn't think that it would pay off, honestly.
Truly, at first, I was like, I don't know."
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From getting waived to hitting crucial threes in Game 7, Julian Champagnie prepares to play the NBA Finals at home in Madison Square Garden.
