Manu Ginobili's career was worthy of a person who made a big impact on the sport. He did so with the shirt of the Argentine national team and also during the 16 seasons he wore the San Antonio Spurs jersey. Beyond his four titles in the NBA, or having been Olympic champion in Athens 2004, the Bahian's legacy is far more significant than the awards he won in his career.
That is why his name came to the fore again in the last few days after he was chosen to enter the basketball Hall of Fame, the place where the most outstanding of discipline have their space reserved for eternity. Now, while waiting for the ceremony to be held on September 9 in Springfield, Massachusetts, the historic No. 20 of the Spurs spoke about how he lived the election and confirmed that two other legends from San Antonio will be his guardians and who will accompany him on stage when he gives his speech.
“My tutor has to be someone who is already in the Hall of Fame. Then it will be David Robinson or Tim Ducan. I have an emotional bond with them, they were partners,” Manu said.
In addition, he said that it motivated him to play after 40 years in the best league in the world. “The fact that I played practically until I was 41 meant that I had nothing left in the tank. I left everything. Since the finals of 2013 I had been considering the opportunity (to retire). And I played four or five more seasons. For me it had been very hard (the defeat in the finals against Miami) and I began to consider it internally. I was getting ready while it was happening. That made the transition easy and recontra pleasant,” he said in dialogue with NBA Latam.
“There wasn't a time when I said 'How I would like to be there'. I love to see it, I appreciate what the players must be feeling at that moment, but here, I look at it from this side with a tecito and ready to go to bed when it ends,” he added in relation to when he has to watch the San Antonio games today.
The best quotes from Manu Ginobili
The repercussions of being elected to the Hall of Fame: “The previous Monday was the day of the call, I didn't know it was going to leak. I was told the announcement was made on Saturday. One day I was watching my children's training and I see on the phone that something happened. It had leaked. From the start was to answer, to say thank you very much. It's nice to know that people are happy, that some people are even excited about something that happens to you.”
The reaction of his family and children: “Those who know me well, didn't even call me. Later, former teammates, or coaches. Some important person you didn't know and that's where you value it. I'm not one to get excited right now. Maybe at the time of speech something comes up. At the end of August I'm going to sit down and write it. And my children, happy because we are going to New York... Because when it was Tim (Duncan), we were there close. But we're not going there, it's somewhere else, but they're somewhere else. But, obviously, they stick out breasts. But they're not going to get excited.”
His role in the Spurs: “The feature is called special advisor of basketball operations. So I am under his wing (that of Popovich), the leadership, but also close to the players as a nexus. I'm going to the court, I'm in the locker room. On a recent trip to San Francisco and Portland I was there to see a little more.”
The definition of his career: “My career was very privileged, to be in such a place (San Antonio) with people who valued and valued me. At the same time I had the indescribable fortune of having the same thing in parallel with the National Team. It's a very atypical thing. I really appreciate everything that happened, from the great victories like an Olympic gold to the ones that broke my heart.”
His life after retirement: “I thought it was going to cost me more, that I would miss the adrenaline rush of the competition more and the truth is that I don't. I can't imagine how he did it, being under that constant pressure. During or out of season. The body, from always rehabilitating, mobility, watching how I sleep... It's exhausting. Thinking about it exhausted me. And four years without almost touching a basketball court, I come, I look. I don't shoot series or play matches. I had a great time and it was what I had in my genes, but I already did. Now I have other priorities.”
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