In his first season in the NBA he got his first ring. Photo: Clarin Archive.
Emanuele Ginobili He is just hours away from having his name engraved forever in the mecca of world basketball. This Saturday from 19:00 there will be the gala for his formal admission to the NBA Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. His former colleague and friend Tim Duncan will be the keynote speaker at the Bahiense Che’s reception he will be the first Argentine and the third Latin Americantogether with the Brazilians Oscar Schmidt and Ubiratan Pereira, to receive this recognition.
The story of Manu it is private. Ever since he started dribbling the ball as a child in the Bahiense del Norte club, he dreamed of dedicating himself to basketball. However, he has broken all the limits set for an Argentine athlete in the sport as well redesigned story.
He appeared forcefully in the National League, became the best in Europe and one of the aces of the Argentine national team. And then, he became a star in the best championship in the world. Here is his first and last big moment in the NBA.
The former escort was selected in position 57 of the NBA Draft (system used to elect future promises) on 30 June 1999 at the MCI Center in Washington when at that time he was defending the Reggio Calabria shirt in Italy. San Antonio recruiters were reluctant to choose him or Lucas Victoriano, another founding partner of the Golden generation with whom he had played the 1997 Under 22 World Cup in Melbourne.
They had both seen them in that tournament, but in the end they chose Manu. It was never the first option. The Spurs came from screaming champions that year, so the selection positions for Gregg Popovich’s squad would be much delayed. In the first round they ranked 29th and in the second round 57th, penultimate choice. Ginobili entered through the window.
In any case, the Texas franchise has matured it in Europe. La Bahiense wore the San Antonio shirt three years later.
It debuted as a bet
His official debut took place on October 7, 2002 in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.. He came in from the substitutes’ bench, faced Kobe Bryant and scored seven points, three assists and two rebounds in 20 minutes of play. From that moment on he has done nothing but grow up.
He averaged 7.6 points in his first regular season in the NBA, he was chosen newbie of the month of March and integrated the second team of rookies at the end of the season. As if something was missing from that incredible debut in the elite, Manu has reached his first NBA ring in his first season and it was a major role in the playoffs. Everyone was surprised by its adaptation.
Juan Ignacio Pepper Sanchezplaymaker of the Argentine national team who won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and Ginóbili’s teammate at Bahiense del Norte, confesses to Clarione: “It was very difficult to get a glimpse of the player he ended up being. Manu is the fruit of work, dedication, belief in himself ”.
The explosion of the Argentine shooting guard in the best basketball league in the world took everyone by surprise. A talent with great potential.
“Always in that moment the maximum of what was thought was to arrive in the National League. I think no one in the world can say that they saw Manu grow and thought that he would play in the NBA, in the Argentine national team, let alone do what he did … I don’t think there is a way. Because apart from that at that moment you weren’t even dreaming of those things. It was not thought of, it was not in the collective imagination “To add Pepper, the first Argentine player to reach the NBA. He did it on Tuesday, October 31, 2000 with the Philadelphia Sixers shirt, a few minutes earlier Ruben Wolkowyskiwho played for the Seattle Supersonics that morning.
Manu’s first major milestone in the NBA was to come as an unknown bet and become champion. The Bahian has always put the collective good above the individual, worked tirelessly and earned a place in the San Antonio franchise. Although there were doubts about him. He won his first ring in the 2002/03 season. Then he collected three more (2004/05, 2006/07 and 2013/14).
“I saw him lift weights when he was 14 when he opened the gym in Bahiense, he spent countless hours in the club shooting baskets …”, remembers Pepe Sánchez. The current president of Bahía Basket and friend of Manu strongly concludes: “You could say he had a plan. You understood that she wanted to devote herself to basketball. That determination was born with him. He was the only one with the determination to do whatever it takes to get there. But think of the National League as at the top “.
But Manu took another step. The Argentine reached the NBA, was champion four times and became a star of the championship and an emblem of the city that has a large Latin American presence. It was 16 years with the Spurs shirt until one day his body and his mind said enough.
He retired as a legend
On April 22, 2018, the Texas public was able to witness the Argentine’s last performance in that stadium at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.. It was the fourth game in the series Play Off against the Golden State Warriors, curiously the franchise that Manu was a fan of as a boy. They had fun locally and fired him like a hero. The last official match was two days later in California. There was the last farewell of the 41-year-old boy. His last NBA moment was on the Chase Center floor after a successful career.
On March 28, 2019, after a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio decided to retire the number 20 jersey that Manu has worn throughout his career and that he chose almost by chance. Today it is on the roof of the stadium along with eight other jerseys.
This Saturday Manu will enter the Hall of Fame alongside Tim Hardaway, George Karl, Bob Huggins, Hugh Evans, Swin Cash, Lindsay Whalen, Marianne Stanley, Lou Hudson, Larry Costello (posthumous recognition), Del Harris, Theresa Shank-Grentz and Radivoj Korac (posthumous recognition) to continue to expand the legend.
Gaston Sanchez
Source: Clarin
