Julian Champagnie's attitude on starting gives Mitch Johnson the co-sign Spurs fans need

Mitch Johnson did everything you could ask for and more in his first full season as the head coach, replacing the legendary Gregg Popovich. Nobody expected a 62-win run that ended in the NBA Finals. One year of success was exactly that, though. One year. The trial is ongoing for many in the fan base, but one thing is clear: the players ride for their leader.

"I don’t care. Starting, not starting, I just like being here. I trust coach.” - Julian Champagnie

That's a guy who may be losing his starting job talking. Before De'Aaron Fox came up sore, Johnson named a new opening five built to open the floodgates for Dylan Harper—Harper, Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and Victor Wembanyama. Champ started 68 games on the way to the Finals. Now he'll be the odd man out if the lineup change holds, and his entire response was a shrug.

Champagnie isn't giving up a small thing

Let's be honest about what got taken. Juju put up 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds a night across all 82 games, shot 38.1% from deep, and set the franchise single-season record with 195 threes. His on/off net rating was plus-8.5, second on the roster behind only Wemby, and 94th percentile league-wide. This isn't a guy who was holding a spot warm for someone else. Champagnie earned his place.

He also just signed for three years and $45 million. Some players treat a new deal as a receipt that says the job is theirs. Juju went the other way. I had Dev pegged as the one getting squeezed by the three-guard group. It looks like that was the wrong read right now, but there's always time to make a change.

I still believe Julian is the better fit as the starting 4 if you're not going to put Tobias Harris there. Regardless, right now, Champagnie is the one eating it without a single leak to a reporter about being unhappy.

The Spurs needed someone to say it out loud

This is the part that matters more than the lineup card. Mitch is one season into the job, and the roster crunch is only beginning. Tobias Harris hasn't played yet due to a left calf strain. Keldon Johnson is a Sixth Man of the Year, potentially being shoved further down the bench.

The Spurs think Harper is their second-best player and are on the verge of starting him in his second season. Carter Bryant needs minutes. Harrison Barnes is still here. Somebody in that room was always going to be unhappy.

The fastest way for a second-year head coach to lose a locker room is for the first guy demoted to make it everyone else's problem. Juju went the opposite way. That's where Barnes gets some credit, too. It happened to him last season when he went from a veteran who's started for most of his career to a bench guy who sometimes barely played. You didn't hear a peep from him about it.

Usually, the company line is, "I'll do whatever the team needs." It's the media-trained version most players give. Champagnie said he trusts the coach. That's a specific thing to say about a guy who was an unknown assistant to most of the league 18 months ago, and nobody made him say it.

That's a huge credit to the man chosen to follow in Coach Pop's footsteps, and Spurs fans should consider how much the players trust him when judging him.

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