Former Argentine basketball player Emanuele Ginobiliwinner of four championship rings with the Spurs of Sant’Antonio and the Olympic gold medalist with Argentina at the 2004 Athens Games, said this Friday that “it’s an unreal time to be here”, at the press conference he held before he was admitted to the NBA Hall of Fame.

The former Spurs guard, 45, who will be one of the highlights of Saturday’s ceremony, stressed that “you don’t grow up in Argentina thinking of coming to this place. Being where I’m from, and making it to the NBA was something. that one dreamed of. I have had a very unlikely path for someone who comes from where I come from“.

At all times Ginóbili thanked. “I’m here because I’ve played in great teams. I’m not the kind of player who would have come here anyway. I needed a great team. I was so lucky to play and be in great teams at the right time.”

“I see a lot of familiar faces,” Ginobili said with a broad smile at the press conference, where he was introduced as one of the Golden Generation figures of Argentine basketball.

“My most important achievements are collective. I don’t have an MVP (Most Valuable Player) award, so I’m here for being part of great teams. From the sixth man [por el que también fue premiado] at the All-Stars, whenever it happened it was because my team stood out and this is no exception, ”added the 45-year-old Argentine from Montville, Connecticut.

Upon his arrival at the Hall of Fame, he acknowledged that “this has brought a little bit of pressure, nerve, responsibility. But I have already prepared my speech and everything is fine. Now is the time to have fun and celebrate my career again“.

Regarding his legacy, Manu joked and said it “The bat is something impossible to overcome. You put my name on YouTube and the first thing you see is the bat thing, “in reference to the moment he caught one in the middle of a match against the Sacramento with one hand.