Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were just two of the former San Antonio Spurs stars who clearly showed on Monday night how much they appreciated Tony Parker. 

Duncan, an assistant coach for the Spurs, and Ginobili delivered emotional speeches to pay tribute to Parker, who played 17 of his 18 NBA seasons with San Antonio before retiring with the Charlotte Hornets in June. The Spurs retired the 37-year-old French star’s jersey at AT&T Center on Monday.

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Parker, Ginobili and Duncan started playing together during the early 2000s and helped propel the Spurs to three NBA championship victories in 2003, 2005 and 2007. The trio also defeated the Miami Heat in 2014 — which boasted superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade — to win the national title that year. Parker, Duncan and Ginobili also boasted a combined 23 All-Star games appearances in total throughout their career.

“We’ve been through a lot together on and off the court,” said Duncan of Parker. “It’s been an incredible ride and there’s no one else I would have rather [had as] my point guard through this whole time. Thank you, Tony.”

The team even used the hashtag #MerciTony to thank Parker in his native language:

Ginobili also honored Parker in a poignant way. The 42-year-old Argentine, who played alongside Parker for 15 years, reminisced over their time together in San Antonio and noted how well they got along throughout their tenure with the team.

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“Hundreds of long dinners and conversations in the back of the bus and I never think we had one argument,” Ginobili said. “Not one.”

Among Parker’s other former teammates who attended Monday night’s jersey retirement ceremony were Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, George Hill and Tiago Splitter. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich also had some kind words for Parker.

Spurs legend and future Hall of Famer Tony Parker has declared that he is officially retiring, he told ESPN on Monday.

Parker spent 18 seasons in the NBA, all but one with the San Antonio Spurs. He finished his career with the Charlotte Hornets in the 2018-19 season, opting out of his contract.

“I’m going to retire. … I decided that I’m not going to play basketball anymore,” Parker told ESPN’s The Undefeated.

Parker, 37, is from Lyon, France and made his way to the NBA in 2001 after being drafted 28th overall by the Spurs. Along with Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili created one of the best cores of players a team could ask for, led by head coach Gregg Popovich. Parker won four championships with the Spurs (2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014) and was the NBA Finals MVP in 2007, the first European player in the NBA to win the award.

Parker tweeted, “It’s with a lot of emotion that I retire from basketball, it was an incredible journey! Even in my wildest dreams, I never thought I would live all those unbelievable moments with the NBA and the French National Team. Thank you for everything!”

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Parker retires with over 1200 games played, averaging 15.5 points and 5.6 assists a game. The six-time All-Star is built off great leadership. The pillar for Popovich’s team, trusting him to call the right plays and being a general on the court. Ginobili, Duncan and Parker were the faces of the franchise Spurs fans came to love. Duncan from the Virgin Islands, Ginobili from Argentina and Parker from France ran the NBA in the mid 2000s.

Parker told his former teammates of his plan to retire when they were together to play a match of tennis, and reflected on the memories they served together. In his last season with the Hornets, Parker wrote in the Player’s Tribune, “That’s also the beauty of basketball, and of life in a way. How it can become less about the summary of things and more about a collection of moments,” he wrote, according to Texas Monthly. “All of these little things that just sort of sneak up on you and begin to shape you, and eventually, if you’re lucky, even come to define you.”

Here are some Twitter reactions from around the NBA to Parker’s retirement announcement:

Manu Ginobili entered the NBA as an unheralded second-round pick out of Argentina. His first seasoned was marred by injuries and tough adjustments to a style of play in the NBA that seemed hellbent on kicking out international players.

Somehow, Ginobili adjusted, winning four championships as a key member of the San Antonio Spurs. He even took down Team USA, winning Argentina a gold medal in the Olympics.

Despite the dry San Antonio climate, there wasn’t a dry eye in the AT&T Center on Thursday night. It represented the end of an era for most fans. The soon-to-be Hall of Famer Ginobili sat with his two longtime teammates, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, for what seemed to be the last time. Though Parker’s jersey will be retired soon and he’s making a last-ditch effort to extended his career with the Charlotte Hornets, the big-three that made fans forget all the winless years before them still shined bright.

“I’m telling you, I’m one of the lucky ones,” Ginobili said during a speech delivered partially in English and partially in Spanish. “I’ve been dealt amazing cards. I just had to play them OK. That was all I had to do.”

Duncan, Parker, coach Gregg Popovich, and Fabricio Oberto all delivered speeches. The ceremony took place after a 116-110 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fans basked in the glory of the last two decades and watched Manu’s No. 20 jersey rise to the rafters, taking an eternal resting spot next to Duncan’s No. 21.

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Patty Mills, Ginobili’s best friend on the team, played with special vigor, knocking down a three-pointer with 13.5 seconds left to seal a win.

“It’s a special day, a heartfelt day for a lot of people in the San Antonio community and far, far beyond,” Mills said. “He’s left a legacy that goes beyond what happens on the court. It’s been his passion, his energy, his competitiveness for the game that has really affected teammates, coaches and fans across the world. I’m very honored to be in a situation of being his teammate and being a close friend of his for many years.”

Last season, Popovich tried to convince Manu to stick around for one last year. The organization was in a major rehaul and would be without a single member of their big three for the first time since the 1997-1998 season. But Manu retired with a year left on his contract.

“He showed the folly of me trying to coach him too much, for sure,” Popovich said. “In the beginning, he was like a mustang out in the field someplace. That’s how he lived his life on the court. He was fearless, wild and did things that won games. So when I step back and look at, ‘Manu, I think that pass could have been a little bit better.’ That’s a pretty inane comment when he just did seven other things to help us win the game. So I basically learned to zip it as his career progressed. ”

“He was a skinny, little guy and wiry, strong, frenetic, fearless, physical and threw his body everywhere,” Popovich added. “He’d run into 7-footers. He’d get knocked down on the floor and get back up. Just the ferocity with which he played was infectious when we first saw him play as a youngster. That’s the first thing you see with Manu. Then, over time, his skills got better to where he became a 3-point shooter. He was always a fantastic passer. But he always had a knack for understanding what needed to happen to win a game. An offensive rebound or a steal in the passing lane — that type of thing that you wouldn’t expect. And it would be not out of the normal course of the game or game plan. He just did it on his own because he saw it and read it. Just a really intuitive knack for the game of basketball.”

On Monday, veteran San Antonio Spurs star Manu Ginobili announced his retirement from the NBA after 16 seasons.

Manu Ginobili Retires From NBA At 41

The 41-year-old Argentine guard revealed the new on Twitter: “IMMENSE GRATITUDE to everyone (family, friends, teammates, coaches, staff, fans) involved in my life in the last 23 years,” Ginobili wrote. “It’s been a fabulous journey. Way beyond my wildest dreams.”

Ginobili played his entire NBA career with the Spurs, and is the franchise’s all-time leader in steals. Before arriving in San Antonio, he played seven years in basketball leagues in Argentina and Italy.

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The two-time All-Star is the third Spur to leave the team this year. Last month, fellow veteran Tony Parker — who came to San Antonio in 2001, just one year before Ginobili — signed with the Charlotte Hornets in free agency, while star forward Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan. 

The Spurs also lost two-time MVP and 15-time All-Star center Tim Duncan in 2016 after a 19-year career. Ginobili, Parker, Leonard and Duncan all helped lead San Antonio to an NBA title in 2014 under Gregg Popovich, who has coached the squad for 22 full seasons. The team has not won a national championship since then, which suggests the Spurs may need to rebuild their roster in oder to ensure their best days aren’t behind them.

Ginobili also helped lead San Antonio to three other NBA titles: in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Ginobili also enjoyed great success internationally: he helped Argentina win a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and then a bronze medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

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Known for his aggressive playing style, Ginobili also won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2008. It thus seems like the Argentine has more than enough accomplishments under his belt to merit becoming a Hall of Famer, something many NBA figures, pundits and fans are already predicting. Leading the franchise in steals alone already seems like a solid enough reason.

Here are some of the top reactions and tributes to the Argentine star from around the NBA:

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.

Manu Ginobili proved to be the savior of San Antonio on Tuesday night by spectacularly blocking a 3-point attempt by James Harden at the buzzer to lift the Spurs to a 110-107 overtime home victory against the Houston Rockets.

Manu Ginobili Blocks James Harden in Spurs’ Game 5 OT Win vs Rockets

Perhaps the most amazing part of Ginobili’s block is that the Argentine guard jumped from behind Harden to deny his Rockets counterpart as time expired. It’s quite a remarkable feat of athleticism from the fifteen-year Spurs veteran, who will be 40 in July.

These slo-motion shots from various closer camera angles more accurately demonstrate Ginobili’s defensive prowess:

Ginobili, who recorded 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes of play, also scored several major baskets like this dunk with two minutes left in the first half that trimmed the Spurs’ deficit to 55-54.

There was also this layup with 34.5 seconds remaining in the game that tied it 101-101:

Danny Green added 16 points for the Spurs, including a three-pointer in the final second of the third quarter that drove the AT&T crowd wild. Green scored seven of his points in overtime, including a foul shot, a go-ahead 3-pointer and a three-point play conversion to put San Antonio ahead 109-107 with 30.1 seconds left.

Kawhi Leonard sat out for the Spurs, who lead the Western Conference Semifinals series 3-2, after injuring his ankle in the second half.

”It was frustrating because I wanted to play,” Leonard said. ”But I was happy seeing my teammates out there putting in a good effort and getting the win.”

Leonard finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds in 38 minutes before leaving with an injured right ankle. He stepped on Harden’s foot while running back in transition with 5:37 remaining in the third quarter and sat out for the entirety of overtime.

The 25-year-old Spurs small forward and former first-round pick said he will play Game 6 in Houston on Thursday.

”I think we all made a decision to be aggressive,” Green said of Leonard’s absence, ”regardless of what was going to happen. We weren’t going to lose the game being on our heels.”

There was also this moment at the fourth-quarter buzzer, when Gregg Popovich shouted at Pau Gasol for failing to set a screen for point guard Patty Mills in the Spurs’ final play in regulation. San Antonio’s coach looked absolutely incensed at Gasol’s error, which prevented the Spurs from taking one last shot and forcing overtime with the game tied at 101.

The Spanish center later apologized.

“I think I made a wrong read,” Gasol said. ”It was tough because when they put a small on you, you have a tendency to go in. I saw a switch, but I should have stayed up because [Patrick] Beverley went with LaMarcus [Aldridge] and we could have played off that. I made a bad, bad read on that play.”

San Antonio was already missing Tony Parker, who is out for the remainder of the playoffs after undergoing surgery to repair a torn left quadriceps tendon.

Nevertheless, some of the Spurs seem to remain confident they will give their all for the rest of the postseason.

”I remember saying to a couple of the guys this is what we live for, these moments, to play in these situations,” Mills said. ”Game 5, at home, you just try to soak it up and play hard. I guess that’s where all the passion comes out, at those moments. The diving on loose balls, coming up with whatever it may be, you’re throwing your body on the line in those situations.”

Harden finished with 33 points, ten rebounds and 10 assists for the Rockets, who have not lost to the Spurs in three previous playoff series. Nene is out for Houston for the rest of the postseason after tearing his left adductor in Game 4.

SAN ANTONIO, TX – MAY 09: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets takes a shot against Manu Ginobili #20 of the San Antonio Spurs during Game Five of the Western Conference Semi-Finals at AT&T Center on May 9, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas.

The San Antonio Spurs re-signed veteran shooting guard Manu Ginobili to a one-year deal estimated at $14 million, according to league sources.

Spurs Reach One-Year, $14 Million Deal With Manu Ginobili

The team announced the signing of the Argentine on Thursday night after first using their salary-cap space to sign former All-Star center Pau Gasol, Latvian import Davis Bertrans, rookie point guard Dejounte Murray (from the University of Washington), center Dewayne Dedmond and young guards Ryan Arcidacono and Bryn Forbes.

ESPN.com reported earlier Thursday that the Spurs were planning to sign Ginobili– who will turn 39 later this month– to a one-year deal in the $10 million range, but sources state that a two-year offer from the Philadelphia 76ers worth an estimated $30 million– though only partially guaranteed in Year 2– convinced San Antonio to raise their offer to the Argentine.

Philadelphia’s interest in Ginobili was first reported by The Vertical.

Ginobili had already announced on Twitter last week that he would be returning to San Antonio, although the Spurs took the Sixers’ threat seriously enough to increase their offer.

The shooting guard opted out of his $2.9 million contract in June to become a free agent.

Sources state Philadelphia was moved to make a play for Ginobili given his ties to 76ers coach Brett Brown, who worked as a Spurs assistant before taking the Philadelphia job, as well as the Sixers’ desire to bolster their roster with more veterans.

The 76ers recently signed point guards Jerryd Bayless from the Milwaukee Bucks and Sergio Rodriguez from Real Madrid.

San Antonio was also forced to waive Tim Duncan on Monday following his retirement. The Spurs can stretch the $5.6 million owed to Duncan next season over the course of the next three years and help fill out its first Duncan-less roster since the 1996-1997 season.

The Spurs’ initial offer to Ginobili was for a little more than $3 million. At the urging of Brown, the Sixers offered Ginobili a two-year deal with at least $16 million guaranteed in the first season, according to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski. 

The veteran guard averaged 9.6 points and 3.1 assists per game last season, and shot 39.1 percent from beyond the arc in almost 20 minutes a night. He will play for Argentina this summer at the Rio Olympics.

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.