THE LEAGUE^©

MANU GINOBILI
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For those like me who never saw Lithuanian center Arvydas Sabonis play during his European Championship days, we missed one of International basketball’s best.  It is said had Sabonis played NBA basketball during his heyday, he’d most certainly be a HOFer.  Fortunately, history has been kinder to us when it comes to the decorated career of Emanuel David Ginóbili.

Manu Ginóbili is a crafty, left-handed guard who has established himself as a relentless and clutch performer for the San Antonio Spurs.  And like Sabonis, Ginobili was a relative late bloomer when it came to playing in the NBA, entering the league at age 25.  Today, alongside teammates Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, he rounds out one of the most successful triumvirates in league history.

Before being selected by the Spurs in the second round of the 1999 draft, Ginóbili had already won numerous European league MVP awards, including the 2004 Olympic tournament MVP.  He is the only player in basketball history to win the Euroleague, an Olympic gold medal, and an NBA Championship ring.  He is also the first non-U.S. player ever to win both an NBA Championship and an Olympic gold medal, and only the second Latin American to be selected to play in an NBA All-Star game (Panama’s Rolando Blackman first).

Not surprisingly, Ginóbili comes from a long line of basketball lineage.  His eldest brother, Leandro, played seven years in the Argentine basketball league.  While brother, Sebastián, played in both the local league and the Spanish Liga Española de Baloncesto. Ginobili’s father, Jorge, coached a basketball club in Bahía Blanca which is how Ginóbili learned the game.  Despite his International roots, like most young players of his generation, Manu grew up idolizing Michael Jordan.

During Ginóbili’s early basketball career in Argentina and Italy, he won several individual and team honors.  While with Italian side Kinder Bologna he earned two Lega A Most Valuable Player awards, one Euroleague MVP award and the 2001 League Championship.  After which, many felt Manu was ready for the NBA.  However, despite being drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in the 1999 NBA Draft, Ginóbili decided to return to Italy and did not join the Spurs organization until 2002, after winning the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis.  Manu was a hit.  He made the All-Tournament team alongside future NBA star Yao Ming, as well as established NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojakovic, and he helped lead Argentina to a second-place finish.  Now Ginóbili was ready to join the Spurs, and it didn’t take long for him to become an integral part of San Antonio’s championship run.  Since joining the team, Manu has won three NBA championships and has been an All-Star once.

In his first season in the NBA, Ginóbili backed up veteran guard Steve Smith.  Unfortunately, he also spent much of that season injured, as he found it hard to adjust to the NBA’s style of play. But as his injury improved, so did his game.  Upon his return from injury, Ginóbili won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month that March, and was named to the All-Rookie Second Team at season’s end.  Although he only started five games, the Spurs posted a 60-22 regular season record.  However, it was in the playoffs that Manu proved his versatile all-around mettle.

In contrast to his regular season performance, Ginóbili established himself as a signature part of Coach Gregg Popovich’s playoff rotation, playing in every game.  The Spurs eliminated Phoenix and Los Angeles, while Manu’s scoring and lane penetrations took opponents by complete surprise, giving them one more thing to cope with against the now talent-loaded Spurs.  Manu helped guide the team past the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals and then the New Jersey Nets in the Finals, securing San Antonio’s second ever championship.  After the win, Ginóbili won his first Olimpia de Oro (“Golden Olympia”) as Argentina’s sportsperson of the year, and even met Argentine president Néstor Kirchner.  A gym in Bahía Blanca was dedicated in Ginóbili’s honor as well.

In the 2003-04 season, Ginóbili started in half of the 77 games he played in and his statistics improved in all major categories, as he averaged 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.  Unfortunately, the Spurs lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals following a controversial Game 5 in which Derek Fisher nailed a clutch jumper as time expired.  The Spurs never recovered and ultimately lost the series 2-4.  Nevertheless, Ginóbili’s playoff numbers improved to 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game.

Despite lingering contract issues in 2004-05, Ginóbili re-signed with the Spurs and started every game.  It helped him log his best season to date, as he was selected as a reserve by NBA coaches to the 2005 Western Conference All-Star team.  During the playoffs, Ginóbili’s play was pivotal once again as he helped lead San Antonio to its third championship. The Spurs first defeated Phoenix 4-1 in the Conference Finals, before prevailing in a defensive-minded seven-game series against the Detroit Pistons.  Ginóbili recorded career-highs in ppg (20.8), and rebounds (5.8), and had the third highest point total in the entire playoffs.  In the NBA Finals MVP Award voting, Manu was edged out by team captain, Tim Duncan.  Ginóbili finished the 2004-05 season as the second leading scorer on the Spurs and he became only the fourth person to win consecutive Olimpias de Oro, this time sharing the award with soccer star Carlos Tévez.

The 2005-06 season was an injury-plagued campaign for Ginóbili.  He suffered foot and ankle injuries, both of which severely limited his play.  Still, he played 65 games, but saw a major dip in all statistical categories compared to the previous season.  However, during the playoffs, he returned to form, although he was unable to prevent the Spurs from losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Semifinals.  In the 2006-07 season, Ginóbili gave the Spurs a huge lift coming off the bench for most of the second half of the season, helping the Spurs to the best record in the second half of the season.  And despite being a bench player, Ginóbili produced numbers nearly identical to those of his 2004-05 campaign, even though he only started 36 of 75 games, his second lowest since arriving in San Antonio.  Nevertheless, in the 2007 NBA Playoffs, Manu rebounded by helping the Spurs defeat the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz, before sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers en route to his third and the Spur’s fourth NBA championship.

SUMMARY

Full Name: Emanuel David Ginóbili
Born: 7/28/77 in Bahia Blanca, Argentina
College: None
Drafted: San Antonio Spurs (2nd round, 28th overall), 1999

Nickname: Manu, Gino, Narigón, El Contusión
Height: 6-6; Weight: 205 lbs.
Honors: 2001 Italian League Championship (Kinder Bologna), 2001 Italian Cup (Kinder Bologna), 2001 Euroleague (Kinder Bologna), 2001 Americas Championship (Argentina), 2002 Italian Cup (Kinder Bologna), 2003 NBA Championship (San Antonio Spurs), 2004 Summer Olympic Games Gold Medal (Argentina), 2005 NBA Championship (San Antonio Spurs), 2007 NBA Championship (San Antonio Spurs), 2001 Lega A (Italy) MVP, 2001 Euroleague MVP, 2002 Lega A MVP, All-Tournament, 2002 FIBA World Championship, 2002-03 NBA All-Rookie Second Team, Olimpia de Oro (2003, 2004 (shared), 2004 Olympics MVP, 2004-05 NBA All-Star, All-Tournament, 2006 FIBA World Championship.

References:
Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Ginobili
NBA.com – http://www.nba.com/playerfile/emanuel_ginobili/index.html

Photos:
Spurs - NBAE/Getty Images
FIBA - Roslaw Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

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Posted by meandovine on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 2:42 am.