In the midst of the news that the San Antonio Spurs are going to be without Victor Wembanyama for the remainder of the season, ClutchPoints talked exclusively with one of Wemby’s teammates.
Julian Champagnie has started at times for the Spurs, especially earlier in the season. The 23-year-old has been playing well lately, scoring 18 points in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Two games before, the St. John’s University alum put in 15 in a 120-109 victory vs. the Phoenix Suns. Earlier that day, Champagnie, who’s in his third year with the organization, and his teammates found out that their Spurs star center would be out of the season.
ClutchPoints’ 1-on-1 with Spurs’ Julian Champagnie
ClutchPoints: “How do you balance the challenge of getting such tough, potentially season-altering news, but still having to get ready to compete as soon as later that same night?”
Julian Champagnie: “It sucks that we had to hear that our guy is done for the season. We have to still finish it out without him. It’s tough and we feel for him. At the end of the day, he wants what we want. To go out there and hoop. We’ve got to finish out strong.”
ClutchPoints: “Does it take a bit to realize that he’s not there just because of how big a part of what you do?”
Champagnie: “I think we prepared for that in that first meeting in shoot-around. We changed up our pick and roll stuff, the way we were playing pick-and-roll defensively, because he’s not there back there. We’ve got to help each other, being low, being in that shift. It’s different when we have a guy who’s 7-foot-5 to back you up. We don’t have that now. I thought we did a pretty good job of preparing for what it’s going to be like. So when we get to the games, I don’t think there’s as much of an adjustment considering that we already spoke about it, already prepared for it.”
ClutchPoints: “When you first heard the news, it was all about how tough it is for Victor personally. When the dust settles a little, can this serve as a rallying point for you guys because the Play-in is still within shot?”
Champagnie: “I’m not sure. I don’t want to call it a rallying point, but I definitely think that with or without Vic, our goal has to be the same. I think he would say the same thing. He texted us wishing us luck before that first game and he texted us after the game. He’s just as locked in as we are just from afar. I think being in the position that we’re in where we’re not out of the picture, we can still fight and figure something out. I think that’s what every guy in this locker room still wants to do and not throw this season away. I definitely think it sucks and we need him and we want him to be on the court, but we’ve got to go out there and figure it out.”
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