Many thought that Game 4 of Western Conference finals against Golden State Warriors, was last for Manu Ginobili in the NBA and crowd made sure to thank him properly for everything he has done for San Antonio Spurs. Still, it looks like we are getting more of Manu in Spurs jersey, at least for one more year. The team announced on their Twitter profile that the player signed a new contract and will be back for his 16th season in the NBA.
It's officially, official. MANU IS BACK.
→ https://t.co/KN6pO1KEHx pic.twitter.com/F05IKIY6Q5
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) August 24, 2017
Although the details of the contract were not made public, ESPN reports that according to their sources, 40-year-old Manu Ginobili signed a 2 year, $5 million deal. If this turns out to be true, we could see Manu playing in the NBA even when he is 42 years old. Although his minutes and production went down in the recent seasons, Ginobili still remains an important player for the Spurs. In Game 3 of last season’s conference finals against the Warriors, Ginobili scored 21 points while also contributing 17 in Game 1.
Ginobili is considered to be one of the best international players in NBA in the recent decades. San Antonio Spurs drafted him as 57th overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, but he didn’t join the team until 2002. During that time he played in Italy, winning EuroLeague with Virtus Bologna and being named EuroLeague Finals MVP in 2001. Soon after joining the Spurs, Ginobili became a key player for the team. During his time in San Antonio, he won 4 NBA rings, being named NBA All-Star 2 times and was also honored with NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.
After this season, Manu Ginobili will join Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, John Stockton, Reggie Miller and John Havlicek as the player who played at least 16 seasons and spent his entire NBA career with one team.
