2022 Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili will take center stage alongside longtime teammate Tim Duncan.
springfield, massachusetts – Saturday night was a bit ironic for Manu Ginobili. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame As a showcase man.
For example, if we consider the class of 2020, the image of Ginobili with superstar talent such as Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett of the same year is 13 members The 2022 Anchor Inaugural class at Symphony Hall was unexpected.
Considering the 6-foot-6 Argentinian guard doesn’t fit the typical Hall of Fame mold, this makes sense in an odd way.
Ginobili is an outlier in more than one way. He entered the sport’s holy land despite coming off the bench in 67% of his NBA appearances (708 of his 1,057 to be exact). Reserves are generally not considered the highest personal honor in the game.
Of course, Ginobili was no ordinary reserve.
His traditional stats – 13.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.8 apg – weren’t what most people think of when they think of gaming greats. But those numbers only scratched the surface of Ginobili’s value to the San Antonio Spurs.
A look back at Manu Ginobili’s Hall of Fame career.
Then there’s the continuity that Ginobili, now 45, has been linked with that team for 16 seasons, all with the same franchise, same city, same fans, same coach (Greg Popovich), same point guard (Tony Parker), And I spent 14 of those 16 years with the same power forward (Duncan). result? His four NBA championships and the crown for the most wins in league history (.721 percent) for Ginobili, slightly ahead of Duncan and Parker.
In a league where players, coaches and moving vans roar in and out like fruits and bars in an overheated slot machine, this side of Bill Russell’s Celtics challenged that level of constancy. may not be possible. It’s unpromising to see someone sticking to one place for so long and succeeding, with so many constant parts, and succeeding anytime soon.
“I’m not here because I’m special,” Ginobili said near the end of the methodical two-hour show. “I am here because I was part of his two most important teams: the Spurs won his four NBA championships and my Argentina national team won. [Olympic] Won a gold medal in 2004. “
This brings another quirk to a worthy contender for Ginobili’s Hall. Hard-core critics, who may have pointed out that his NBA stats and role were disappointing, are generally hard to deny when considering his play in international competition at FIBA and the Olympics. admitted to Hyperactive sixth man enshrined.
Still, Ginobili became the first foreign player to be voted for Hall by the North American Commission.
Manu Ginobili looks back on his life and career in his Hall of Fame speech.
What the 2022 class may have lacked in marquee power, it made up for in depth and breadth of players, coaches and contributors.
NBA-related rookies include All-Star point guard Tim Hardaway, enthusiastic coach George Karl, recently deceased referee Hugh Evans, former Hawks leading scorer Lou Hudson, and voted as a contributor. It included former coaches Del Harris and Larry Costello.
Other Class Members for 2022: NCAA Men’s Coach Bob Huggins, WNBA Alumni Lindsay Warren and Swin Cash, Women’s College Coaches Marianne Stanley and Teresa Shank-Grentz, Yugoslavia Star Radivoi Colac, a selection of three African-American pioneers with roots in the early Harlem Globetrotters: Wyatt (Sonny) Boswell, Inman Jackson, and Albert (Rant) Pullins.
All of the 2022 ceremonies were supported by family, friends and representatives of the basketball journey, including seven who entered the hall posthumously.
But Ginobili’s contingent, the largest and loudest assembled from several continents and forty years, made a fuss when his name was first mentioned. You would have thought Paul Pierce and the rest of the Celtics would be in again, drawing fans from right out of Boston.
Not bad for being the 57th overall pick in the 1999 draft.
“I was like, ‘Huh?!’ He was overseas and didn’t know it was about to happen. “I thought it was a mistake. I had zero expectations. Zero.”
Instead, Ginobili has become the epitome of a player willing and willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win. This all happened long before Charles Barkley produced “Ginobili!” on his NBA Inside his set. His callout during Spurs highlights.
“The Spurs have been a big, strong supportive family for me,” he said. “Lots of wins and losses, lots of friends, lots of great experiences.”
The strong relationship between Manu Ginobili and Gregg Popovich fueled much of their shared success.
Duncan served as the sole presenter for Ginobili. This is a tribute to the role he played in his teammate’s career and Hall’s invitation. In his speech, Ginobili greeted and thanked San Antonio’s great players and also mentioned Popovich and Parker, who were sitting in the first few rows.
But he didn’t stop there.
“It takes a lot of pieces to win championships and be a true team,” Ginobili said. “And we had a lot of them.”
The list that started with fellow role players Bruce Bowen and Matt Bonner quickly grew long, with too many even Ginobili to name. His love and appreciation for the time we spent together was evident.
“We had a lot of fun playing games with you. Preparing for those games, being in those games, winning together…it was great.”
And that was just the NBA side of Ginobili’s journey. In his 18 years in the offseason, he had nearly as much success and enjoyed staying true to his roots.
“The crazy thing about my career is that all this was happening with Spurs and at the same time I had another career. was the same as
Manu Ginobili pays tribute to the Argentine Olympic gold medal winning team.
There were many distinctions on Saturday’s stage. Carl ranks sixth all-time NBA regular in terms of wins in his season. Hardaway became synonymous with his killer his crossover his dribble. Evans became the seventh NBA referee to make the hole and the first black man among 17 referees overall.
Hudson and Costello had slipped through the Hall voting gap for far too long, and Harris, 85, was also headed in that direction until the winners were announced at the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four in New Orleans. The 2022 Hall of Fame inductees from other categories and backgrounds have each made an impression.
But Ginobili, a humble “glue man”, became a star overnight, and he handled it with grace and fun.
Saturday’s event marked a return to the majestic Symphony Hall. Class of 2021 was honored last September at the Downtown Convention Center in Springfield during the renovation of the concert hall. The traditional venue facade and staircase became a more striking red he carpet entrance for Hoop VIP.
The evening’s program began with a tribute to legendary Boston Celtics center Bill Russell, led by Hall of Famers Jerry West and Alonzo Mourning. Russell, known for winning 11 of his NBA championships in his 13 seasons, died on July 31 at the age of 88.
In memory of Russ: Bill Russell was honored at the 2022 Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Steve Ashburner has been writing about the NBA since 1980. here is his archive When follow him on twitter.
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