RealGM

Posted: **Thu Aug 11, 2016 2:59 pm**

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/17262551/manu-ginobili-built-legacy-love-team-storied-career

If you haven't read it yet I would strongly recommend it. Lot's of great insight on how Manu got here and why playing for Argentina is so important to him.

I could pull a ton of snippets from it but for some reason these paragraphs stood out the most to me:

Ginobili carried no sense of entitlement; he outworked everyone in practice, especially during scrimmages, when he played as if it were Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Toward the end of an early September 2007 pickup game involving Spurs and visiting free agents, Ginobili dove through three players to retrieve a loose ball and flung it to a teammate. That player scored, and Popovich, watching, stopped the scrimmage even though it wasn't over.

He gathered everyone and asked them: "What does that play mean to you?" Popovich told them Ginobili wanted to win more than anyone on the floor, and that if the Spurs wished to repeat after their 2007 title, they would all need to play that hard. Popovich walked away, and everyone thought the speech was over. Suddenly, he turned: "And Manu: It's f---ing September. Never do that again in September."

I think that pretty much sums up Manu and Pop.

Posted: **Fri Aug 19, 2016 5:03 am**

I read that on the way to work the other day, great read.

I also shed a tear yesterday watching him hug and say bye to his teammates after their Olympic knock out game

Aussie legend Andrew Gaze (who played with the Spurs) was commentating and said even with the utmost respect he had for Manu, he actually gained even more for this game because here he was, 39 years old, having achieved just about everything one could, down 25 and still running around giving effort like it's a 1 point game.

Posted: **Thu Oct 6, 2016 3:06 pm**

This is one of the best articles i've ever read. I found it on twitter, but thanks for sharing. I saw all Manu's NBA years (and FIBA) and i sometimes can't control my emotions when a kid starts talking about Manu as a stat sheet and saying that some winningless scrubs are better than him. Years will go by and we'll see:

92: USA
96: USA
00: USA
04: Argentina (Manu)
08: USA
12: USA
16: USA

And this will be USA for eternity, with one little spot in between, only accomplished by Manu Ginobili's team.

Posted: **Mon Oct 10, 2016 3:38 am**

Frankie23 wrote:This is one of the best articles i've ever read. I found it on twitter, but thanks for sharing. I saw all Manu's NBA years (and FIBA) and i sometimes can't control my emotions when a kid starts talking about Manu as a stat sheet and saying that some winningless scrubs are better than him. Years will go by and we'll see:

92: USA
96: USA
00: USA
04: Argentina (Manu)
08: USA
12: USA
16: USA

And this will be USA for eternity, with one little spot in between, only accomplished by Manu Ginobili's team.

I'd And50 this post if I could.

RealGM

Zach Lowe's Piece on Manu

Zach Lowe's Piece on Manu

Re: Zach Lowe's Piece on Manu

Re: Zach Lowe's Piece on Manu

Re: Zach Lowe's Piece on Manu