Julian Champagnie Had Simple Message For Stephon Castle After Loss: Report

The San Antonio Spurs fell short of their championship goals on Saturday night, suffering a 94-90 loss at the hands of the New York Knicks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

The Spurs lost the NBA Finals 1-4, despite at one point leading all five games by double digits.

Second-year guard Stephon Castle had a rough outing in the closeout loss, scoring just six points on an inefficient 1 of 10 shooting from the field and 0 of 3 shooting from behind the 3-point arc.

Castle was understandably upset in the postgame locker room, but he received a simple message of support from his Spurs teammate Julian Champagnie.

“I just wanna see you smile, man,” Champagnie said, via NBA reporter Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports. “That’s it.”

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Though Castle had a rough outing in Game 5, he’s a huge part of the future the Spurs are building in San Antonio. The 21-year-old guard is an excellent complement for 22-year-old NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama, the leader of this young Spurs unit.

20-year-old rookie Dylan Harper had his best game of the NBA Finals in Saturday night’s loss, scoring a team-high 25 points through 31 minutes off the bench. Champagnie chipped in with 14 points on 4/8 shooting from behind the 3-point arc.

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This young Spurs squad now turns its attention toward the 2026-27 NBA season, where they’ll look to bounce back from this disappointing championship defeat.

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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 3:17 PM.