![]() “You don’t find people often that have achieved a level of success or fame that really live as principled a life as Manu has, and with that just comes so many qualities that become stuff that you’re grateful to be around: His accountability, his compassion, the way he’s contributed to the community both here and back home in Argentina, his incredible zest for living,” Barry told NBA.com. Ginobili accomplished his feats with flair, fearlessness, dogged competitiveness, selflessness and reckless abandon over a 23-year career in professional basketball, which included a 16-season run with the Spurs that produced four titles.īut there’s so much more to the man, according to former teammate Brent Barry, who now serves as San Antonio’s vice president of basketball operations. When Duncan introduces Ginobili as the headliner of the Naismith Hall of Fame Class of 2022 on Saturday, you’ll likely hear countless tales of the ultra-competitiveness that pushed the Argentine to the mantle of winningest player in NBA history (72.1%) among those appearing in at least 1,000 games. “He doesn’t know how, and that’s his strength.” ![]() “The most competitive player we’ve ever had,” Spurs CEO R.C. Manu Ginobili celebrates the Spurs’ championship in 2014. The heart-stopping process, like so many times before, only repeated itself the very next day in another inconsequential pickup run when Ginobili dove through the legs of franchise stalwart Tim Duncan to scoop up a loose ball. He blocked the dunk right there at the rim. “Every reason to do it was wrong, and he did it. “You’re like, ‘Bro, he is not about to try to make a play at the rim two weeks before training camp, on a free agent,’ ” Hardy said. Like everybody else in the gym that day, Hardy cringes in anticipation of what might happen next. That’s when Hardy (then a Spurs assistant coach under Gregg Popovich) spots a figure out the corner of his eye bearing down in hot pursuit, as the sound of squeaking sneakers fades into the horrid silence of the moment. In a routine pick-up game, Mario West - an unsigned and unheralded free-agent - sprints the floor in transition for what should be an easy breakaway dunk. By now, the veteran owns an Olympic gold medal and three NBA championship rings, not to mention a pair of All-Star nods and an NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. ![]() It’s summer 2012, and Manu Ginobili has just turned 34. “You could just see it happening,” Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy explained to NBA.com. SAN ANTONIO – The split-second buildup induced butterflies, sending chills through a steamy gym two weeks before the start of training camp. Manu Ginobili talks with former Spurs assistant coach Will Hardy prior to a game in 2018.
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