The last remaining member of the famed San Antonio Spurs “Big Three” may be on his way out as well. Manu Ginobili is “seriously considering” retirement before the next season begins, as per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. He plans to meet with coach Gregg Popovich when he comes back to America after being in Europe for the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders event in Belgrade.
It has been reported that the Spurs are still hopeful that Ginobili will consider returning for a 17th season, but the decision is still up in the air. The Spurs have a solid backcourt rotation between DeMar DeRozan, Dejounte Murray, Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli, and rookie Lonnie Walker IV. Yet the organization still believes Manu will still hold plenty of value to the team.
The first member of the Big Three to exit was Tim Duncan, who retired after the 2015-2016 season. Next was Tony Parker, who, in shocking fashion, left the Spurs after 17 seasons to join the Charlotte Hornets.
Manu has only played with the Spurs organization and has a resume to prove his impact for the team. He was selected 57th overall (2nd round) in the 1999 NBA draft, and began playing for San Antonio in 2002. In just his second season, he won his first of four championships, the others coming in 2005, 2007, and finally 2014.
On top of titles, Ginobili is also a 2-time NBA All-Star, once in 2005 and again in 2011, as well as owner of the 2008 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award. But perhaps his greatest achievement is guiding the Argentina national team to win a gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics, defeating the United States 89-81 while also dropping 29 points in the process.
So where does that bring us now? Ginobili came off the bench all 65 games he played last year. He averaged 8.9 PPG on 43.4% from the floor and 33.3% from 3, as well as 2.2 RPG and 2.5 APG. At this point, I think the Spurs value him more for his knowledge, experience, and wisdom than what he physically can contribute to the team. His numbers at this point are easily replaceable with one of those aforementioned younger guards. But what sets Ginobili apart from those guards is his age; he’s won 4 NBA finals; he knows the ins and outs of what makes a successful team; he was molded by perhaps the greatest coach in NBA history. The point is, what he knows can be helpful to any team, and that is why the Spurs want him back for another year. He is due to make $2.5 million next season as part of the last year on his contract.
Ginobili said this to reporters back in May regarding the retirement question:
“I’ve been contemplating retirement forever. Nothing changed. I’ll let a month or two months go by, and then I’ll see how I feel. I’m not the type of guy that makes decisions on the fly, or when you’re upset or hurt or whatever. I usually let it sink in and see how it feels.”
Expect a decision to be made regarding Ginobili’s future in the coming days. If there’s more, then I will patiently await watching a future Hall of Famer play one more season for his beloved franchise. And if this is the end, then I will patiently await watching his banner hang in the rafters of AT&T Center and his career forever immortalized at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Feature Image via Flikr/RMTip21
