Manu Ginobili Finalizing Deal To Return For 16th Season With Spurs

Manu Ginobili will be back with the San Antonio Spurs this fall.

Manu Ginobili Spurs news

The Argentine shooting guard — who will be 40 next week — is finalizing the details of a contract to return to the team for his 16th season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday.

Ginobili confirmed the news on Twitter early Wednesday, and made the announcement in both English and Spanish:

The guard was selected by the Spurs as a second-round pick in the 1999 draft but did not begin playing in the NBA until 2002 after spending time in both Argentina and Italy’s basketball leagues.

Ginobili, a two-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion, is also one of the most decorated foreign players in basketball history: with Argentina, he boasts one Olympic gold medal (2004), one FIBA World Cup silver medal (2002), and was also named EuroLeague MVP in 2001.

The veteran earned $14 million in the 2016-2017 season and averaged 7.5 points and 18.7 minutes during that campaign.

Ginobili has played in 992 regular-season games and made 213 playoff appearances over his 15 seasons.

The Argentine ranks in the top five in Spurs franchise history in games (992), points (13,467), assists (3,838) and steals (1,349).

Ginobili scored 21 points in Game 3 of this year’s conference finals to become the first player aged 39 or older to record 20 or more points off the bench in a postseason game since the NBA began tracking starts in 1970-71, according to research from Elias Sports Bureau.

After Ginobili missed his first 15 shots of the postseason, many fans began speculating that the Argentine would retire soon. It was even rumored that Game 4 of this year’s Western Conference Finals against the defending champion Golden State Warriors — the matchup San Antonio lost to be eliminated from the playoffs — might be Ginobili’s last game after Spurs coach Gregg Popovich inserted the veteran late in the contest as a way to honor him. Ginobili delivered by scoring 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting and added seven assists before leaving the court with 2:25 left to a standing ovation at the AT&T Center. In the 2016 West Finals, Ginobili scored 21 points in Game 3 against the Warriors to record his highest-scoring playoff game of the past three postseasons..

“It’s hard to choose a few [of my favorite moments] because it’s easy to remember the wins, the good moments, the highs,” Ginobili said at the end of the season. “But even the lows were great, too, in a sense of connection, camaraderie, of doing it together. We win it together. We lose it together. Even the bad moments, the tough ones, I’m proud of them, too. Those moments get you better, smarter, make you grow. So it’s hard to choose one moment. I think the whole trip is incredible, and it’s been incredible.”

Since Tim Duncan retired last season and Tony Parker is not expected to return until early 2018 from the quadriceps injury he sustained in the Western Conference Semifinals, Ginobili is now the oldest player on the Spurs’ roster.

Several of Ginobili’s teammates praised the guard for his astounding physicality for a player his age.

“He puts his body on the line every night. He’ll do it to make a great play for the team. He has no regard for what happens to his body,” said Spurs shooting guard Danny Green. “He’ll do what’s necessary to win games and just help our momentum. I’ve seen the passes, I’ve seen moves, I’ve seen Manu do a little bit of everything. He’s been doing it for a while. I’ve learned a ton [from Ginobili] since I’ve gotten here. From day one, I’ve tried to be a sponge and take everything that he’s done — he makes it look so easy, but it’s not easy to do.”

According to NBA sources, Ginobili is not expected to retire for at least one more season.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – MAY 6: Manu Ginobili #20 of the San Antonio Spurs dunks two points against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half of Game Three of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on May 6, 2016 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.