Emanuel David "Manu" Ginóbili ( , ; born 28 July 1977
Coming from a family of professional basketball players, Ginóbili spent the early part of his career in Argentina and Italy, winning several individual and team honors. Ginóbili's stint with Italian club Kinder Bologna was particularly successful, as he won two Italian League MVP awards, the EuroLeague Finals MVP, the 2001 EuroLeague championship and the Triple Crown. After joining the San Antonio Spurs, Ginóbili was named an All-Star in 2005 and 2011 and was selected to the All-NBA Third Team twice. In the 2007–08 season, he was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year. The Spurs made the playoffs in each of Ginóbili's 16 seasons. He is regarded as one of the greatest Latin American players, sixth men, and draft steals in NBA history. Ginóbili is also credited with popularizing the Euro step move in the NBA.
In international play, Ginóbili's achievements include leading Argentina to a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he was named FIBA Olympics Most Valuable Player. He also helped secure the historic feat of being a member of the only team in Olympic history (as of 2025) to ever eliminate the United States men's national basketball team. With Argentina's 2004 gold medal victory, Ginóbili became one of only two players (along with fellow Hall of Famer Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal.
In September 2021, the Spurs appointed Ginóbili as special advisor to basketball operations.
Family and personal life
Emanuel David Ginóbili was born on the 28th of July 1977 in Bahía Blanca, a city in the southwest region of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, to Jorge Hector Ginóbili and Raquel Maccari. Ginóbili comes from a family of basketball players: Jorge was a coach at Bahiense del Norte, a local basketball club, where Ginóbili learned to play the sport, whereas his older brothers, Leandro and Sebastián, are both former professional players; Leonardo played seven years in the Liga Nacional de Básquetbol before retiring in 2003, and Sebastián has played in both the Argentine local league and in the Spanish 2nd-tier level, Liga Española de Baloncesto.
Ginóbili is of Italian descent, tracing his heritage to the region of Marche. He has both Argentine citizenship and Italian citizenship. In addition to his native Spanish, Ginóbili is fluent in English and Italian. In his spare time, Ginóbili enjoys listening to Latin music, watching movies, and traveling. Ginóbili's idol growing up was Michael Jordan.
In 2004, Ginobili married fellow Argentine Marianela Oroño. On 16 May 2010, his wife gave birth to twin boys, Dante and Nicola. On 21 April 2014, she gave birth to their third son, Luca.
A documentary based on Ginobili's life was directed by Rodolfo Lamboglia.
Professional career
Andino (1995–1996)
Ginóbili made his professional debut in the Argentine basketball league for the Andino Sport Club of La Rioja in the 1995–96 season.
Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca (1996–1998)
Ginóbili was traded to Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca in 1996. He played with his hometown team until 1998.
Viola Reggio Calabria (1998–2000)
Ginóbili went to Europe to spend the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons with Italian team Basket Viola Reggio Calabria.
Virtus Bologna (2000–2002)
Ginóbili then entered the 1999 NBA draft and the San Antonio Spurs selected him late in the second round with the 57th overall pick. However, Ginóbili did not sign with the Spurs at this point. Instead, he returned to Italy to play for Kinder Bologna, whom he helped win the 2001 Italian League Championship, the 2001 and 2002 Italian Cups, and the 2001 EuroLeague. In the lattermost, Ginóbili was named the 2001 EuroLeague's Finals MVP. and helped lead Argentina to a second-place finish. The Spurs then entered the playoffs eager to upend the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers, at which point Ginóbili rose to prominence.
In contrast to his regular season, Ginóbili became an integral part of Gregg Popovich's rotation in the playoffs, playing in every game. and in those games, Ginóbili's scoring threat took opponents by surprise, giving them one more thing to cope with against the now highly favored Spurs. He helped guide them past the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals and then the New Jersey Nets in the Finals, and met Argentine president Néstor Kirchner. the Spurs lost Game 6 and the series 4–2. While Ginóbili did not start in a single playoff game as he did in 2003, his playoff statistics improved significantly, with 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. before prevailing in a very defense-oriented seven-game series against the Detroit Pistons. Ginóbili recorded career-highs in his playoff numbers, most notably 20.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg,
In the 2006–07 season, the Spurs lacked energy from their reserves. Ginóbili came off the bench for most of the second half of the season, helping the Spurs attain the league's best record during that portion of the season. Ginóbili produced numbers closely identical to his successful 2004–05 campaign despite starting in only 36 of 75 games, his second-lowest number of starts since arriving at San Antonio.
Ginóbili was to play an even bigger role for the Spurs the following season, reaching career high averages in points, rebounds, assists, and three-point field goal percentage. On 21 April 2008, the NBA announced that Ginóbili had won the 2008 Sixth Man Award, winning 123 out of the 124 first place votes. He had a statline of 19.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.8 rebounds on .460 shooting averaging 31.1 minutes. Only a couple of weeks later, the Argentine was also named to the All-NBA Third Team. In the playoffs, the Spurs defeated the Suns 4–1 in the first round, and Ginóbili was moved to the starting lineup in the second round against the New Orleans Hornets after the Spurs lost the first two road games. San Antonio eventually prevailed in seven games, the Argentine played another strong series, leading the Spurs in points and assists per game (21.3 and 6.0 respectively). However, San Antonio lost to arch-rivals Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Finals in five games, and once again failed to capture back-to-back NBA championships.
The following season, Ginóbili was injured for most of the campaign, managing only 44 regular-season games and missing the 2009 NBA Playoffs entirely. San Antonio qualified for the playoffs as the third seed with a 54–28 record, but with an aging supporting cast (Bowen, Michael Finley and Kurt Thomas were all in their late 30s), the Spurs were only considered fringe contenders for the championship.
On 31 October 2009, in a game against the Sacramento Kings, a bat descended onto the court at the AT&T Center, causing a stoppage of play. As the bat flew past, Ginóbili swatted the bat to the ground with his hand. He then carried the creature off the court, earning the applause of the crowd. On 9 April 2010, the Spurs and Ginóbili agreed to a three-year, $39 million contract extension through the 2012–13 season.
In 2010–11, Ginobili was regarded as the key player on his team, and he finished eighth on the NBA MVP ballot following the season.
Later career (2011–2018)
upright|thumb|Ginóbili in 2012
In the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Ginóbili helped the Spurs go 50–16. The team advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they were defeated 4–2 by the Oklahoma City Thunder. In Game 5 of the series, Ginóbili scored 34 points.
In 2012–13, the Spurs advanced to the NBA Finals, where they faced the Miami Heat. In the Spurs' Game 5 victory, Ginóbili scored a season-high 24 points and helped his team take a 3–2 series lead. However, the Spurs went on to lose Games 6 and 7.
On 11 July 2013, Ginóbili re-signed with the Spurs on a two-year, $14 million deal. In 2013–14, the Spurs had a league-best 62–20 record. Ginóbili finished third in the voting for Sixth Man of the Year. In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Thunder, the Big Three of Duncan, Parker, and Ginóbili notched their 110th career playoff win, matching the number of playoff wins attained by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Spurs reached the NBA Finals again, where they faced the Heat for the second consecutive year. This time, they dominated the series, winning 4–1 to claim that franchise's fifth championship; Ginóbili won his fourth championship as a Spur.
On 20 July 2015, Ginóbili re-signed with the Spurs on a two-year, $5.7 million deal. On 14 January 2016, in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, he played his 900th NBA game, all with the Spurs. On 4 February, Ginóbili underwent surgery after suffering a testicular injury in the Spurs' win over the New Orleans Pelicans the previous night. He was subsequently sidelined for one month. He returned to the action on 5 March after missing 12 games with the injury, scoring 22 points in 15 minutes against the Sacramento Kings.
On 14 July 2016, Ginóbili re-signed with the Spurs on a one-year, $14 million deal. On 9 November, in a loss to the Houston Rockets, Ginóbili became the 15th second-rounder to reach 13,000 points and joined Rashard Lewis as the only second round draft picks in NBA history with 13,000 career points and at least 1,300 three-pointers.
In Game 5 of the 2017 Western Conference Semifinals against Houston, Ginóbili blocked James Harden's shot in the closing seconds to help San Antonio to a 110–107 victory. In Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against Golden State Warriors, Ginóbili became the first player at the age of 39 to score 20 or more points off the bench in a playoff game since the NBA began recording starts in the 1970–71 NBA season.
On 24 August 2017, Ginóbili re-signed with the Spurs on a two-year, $5 million deal. In January 2018, he became the only player in NBA history to have multiple 20-point games off the bench at age 40 or older. Ginóbili also became the first player in his 40s to score 15-plus points in back-to-back games since Michael Jordan in 2002–03. On 28 January against the Sacramento Kings, Ginóbili and Vince Carter scored 21 and 15 points respectively; it was the first game in NBA history where two players over the age of 40 scored 15 points or more. On 29 March, in a 103–99 victory over the Thunder, Ginobili became the Spurs' career leader in steals, passing David Robinson (1,388) for the franchise record. In Game 4 of the Spurs' first round playoff series against the Warriors, Ginóbili played in his 217th playoff game, breaking a tie with Shaquille O'Neal for sixth in league history. Ginóbili also passed Reggie Miller for third in career 3-pointers in playoff history. The Spurs lost to the Warriors in five games.
Retirement
On 27 August 2018, Ginóbili announced his retirement from professional basketball, making him the second player that season to complete a career with one team, after Nick Collison of the Oklahoma City Thunder. On 28 March 2019, the Spurs retired Ginóbili's No. 20 jersey.
Career statistics
Source: Basketball Reference.
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"|†
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 69 || 5 || 20.7 || .438 || .345 || .737 || 2.3 || 2.0 || 1.4 || .2 || 7.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 77 || 38 || 29.4 || .418 || .359 || .802 || 4.5 || 3.8 || 1.8 || .2 || 12.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"|†
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 74 || 74 || 29.6 || .471 || .376 || .803 || 4.4 || 3.9 || 1.6 || .4 || 16.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 65 || 56 || 27.9 || .462 || .382 || .778 || 3.5 || 3.6 || 1.6 || .4 || 15.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"|†
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 75 || 36 || 27.5 || .464 || .396 || .860 || 4.4 || 3.5 || 1.5 || .4 || 16.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 74 || 23 || 31.0 || .460 || .401 || .860 || 4.8 || 4.5 || 1.5 || .4 || 19.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 44 || 7 || 26.8 || .454 || .330 || .884 || 4.5 || 3.6 || 1.5 || .4 || 15.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 75 || 21 || 28.7 || .441 || .377 || .870 || 3.8 || 4.9 || 1.4 || .3 || 16.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 80 || 79 || 30.3 || .433 || .349 || .871 || 3.7 || 4.9 || 1.5 || .4 || 17.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 34 || 7 || 23.3 || .526 || .413 || .871 || 3.4 || 4.4 || .7 || .4 || 12.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 60 || 0 || 23.2 || .425 || .353 || .796 || 3.4 ||4.6 || 1.3 || .2 || 11.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"|†
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 68 || 3 || 22.8 || .469 || .349 || .851 || 3.0 ||4.3 || 1.0 || .3 || 12.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 70 || 0 || 22.7 || .426 || .345 || .721 || 3.0 || 4.2 || 1.0 || .3 || 10.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 58 || 0 || 19.6 || .453 || .391 || .813 || 2.5 || 3.1 || 1.1 || .2 || 9.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 69 || 0 || 18.7 || .390 || .392 || .804 || 2.3 || 2.7 || 1.2 || .2 || 7.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 65 || 0 || 20.0 || .434 || .333 || .840 || 2.2 || 2.5 || .7 || .2 || 8.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 1,057 || 349 || 25.4 || .447 || .369 || .827 || 3.5 || 3.8 || 1.3 || .3 || 13.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 2 || 0 || 21.0 || .385 || .000 || .833 || 3.0 || 3.0 || 2.0 || .5 || 7.5
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"|2003†
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 24 || 0 || 27.5 || .386 || .384 || .757 || 3.8 || 2.9 || 1.7 || .4 || 9.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2004
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 10 || 0 || 28.0 || .447 || .286 || .818 || 5.3 || 3.1 || 1.7 || .1 || 13.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"|2005†
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 23 || 15 || 33.6 || .507 || .438 || .795 || 5.8 || 4.2 || 1.2 || .3 || 20.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2006
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 13 || 11 || 32.8 || .484 || .333 || .839 || 4.5 || 3.0 || 1.5 || .5 || 18.4
|-
|style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"|2007†
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 20 || 0 || 30.1 || .401 || .384 || .836 || 5.5 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .2 || 16.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2008
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 17 || 6 || 32.9 || .422 || .373 || .896 || 3.8 || 3.9 || .6 || .3 || 17.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2010
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 10 || 10 || 35.2 || .414 || .333 || .866 || 3.7 || 6.0 || 2.6 || .2 || 19.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2011
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 5 || 5 || 34.8 || .443 || .321 || .780 || 4.0 || 4.2 || 2.6 || .6 || 20.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2012
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 14 || 2 || 27.9 || .448 || .338 || .857 || 3.5 || 4.0 || .7 || .3 || 14.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 21 || 3 || 26.7 || .399 || .302 || .738 || 3.7 || 5.0 || 1.1 || .3 || 11.5
|-
|style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"|2014†
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 23 || 0 || 25.5 || .439 || .390 || .862 || 3.3 || 4.1 || 1.6 || .1 || 14.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2015
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 7 || 0 || 18.7 || .349 || .364 || .783 || 3.4 || 4.6 || .6 || .9 || 8.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2016
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 10 || 0 || 19.2 || .426 || .429 || .783 || 2.7 || 2.5 || .8 || .3 || 6.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2017
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 16 || 1 || 17.8 || .412 || .225 || .739 || 2.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .1 || 6.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2018
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 5 || 0 || 21.4 || .405 || .333 || .818 || 3.0 || 3.2 || 1.4 || .2 || 9.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 218 || 53 || 27.9 || .433 || .358 || .817 || 4.0 || 3.8 || 1.3 || .3 || 14.0
EuroLeague
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"|2000–01†
| style="text-align:left;"|Kinder Bologna
| 22 || 20 || 29.7 || .445 || .291 || .778 || 4.1 || 2.0 || 2.9 || .3 || 15.2 || 15.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2001–02
| style="text-align:left;"|Kinder Bologna
| 22 || 22 || 28.4 || .450 || .340 || .778 || 3.8 || 3.0 || style="background:#CFECEC;"| 2.5* || .3 || 15.9 || 17.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 44 || 42 || 29.1 || .448 || .315 || .778 || 4.0 || 2.5 || 2.7 || .3 || 15.5 || 16.5
National team career
Ginóbili was a core member of a hugely successful Argentina national basketball team, which is sometimes referred to as the Golden Generation.
Junior national team
Ginóbili played with the junior Argentina national team at the 1997 FIBA Under-21 World Championship, where his team finished in 4th place.
Senior national team
Ginóbili was a member of the senior Argentina national basketball team, and made his senior debut during the 1998 FIBA World Championship in Athens. Ginóbili led the team in both scoring (19.3 points per game) and assists (3.3 assists per game).
Ginóbili played with Argentina at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, where his team finished in 4th place. Ginóbili was the flag bearer for Argentina at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, which was held in Beijing, China. At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics basketball tournament, Argentina defeated Lithuania to win the bronze medal game, although the shooting guard did not play in that match, after sustaining an injury in the tournament's semifinals. In April 2010, Ginóbili announced that he would not participate in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, due to family reasons. However, he competed for the team at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, where Argentina narrowly missed out on winning the bronze medal, in the bronze medal game versus Russia. Ginóbili played his last international games at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, where Argentina finished in 8th place.
Player profile
Ginóbili was listed as 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) in shoes, weighed 205 lb (93 kg), and played left-handed. He established himself as a star shooting guard Ginóbili was a relatively late bloomer, entering the NBA at age 25 in a period when entering the NBA as a teenager was very common. He was known as a reliable and versatile backcourt player. and his passion for the game. Ginóbili's go-to move was either a three-pointer or a fierce drive to the basket. He often lowered his head when driving to the basket to collapse defenses and create shots or passes to his teammates. Ginobili popularized the Euro step in the NBA, although he was not the first to use the move in the league.
Ginobili was known as a team player. He accepted the Spurs coaches' decision to bring him off the bench for most of his career. Five years later, Ian Thomsen, a Sports Illustrated columnist, grouped Ginóbili with fellow European league players Anderson Varejão and Vlade Divac as the players who "made [flopping] famous", by exaggerating contact on the court in a manner analogous to diving in soccer games.