translated from Spanish: Manu Ginóbili turns 44: the legend of Argentine basketball

Emanuel Ginóbili turns 44. Retired from professional activity for two years, Manu has achieved an exceptional career as an athlete both in san Antonio Spurs of the NBA and in the Argentine National Team, where he was the main figure of that “Golden Generation” that gave so many joys to the national sport. Ginóbili was born in 1977, in Bahía Blanca, the national capital of basketball, into a family of basketball players. His first steps in the sport were taken in Bahiense del Norte, a club in which he made the complete lower divisions and whose stadium, to date, has his name. Despite growing up and training in the south of Buenos Aires, his debut in the National League was in 1995, at the age of 18, wearing the shirt of Andino de La Rioja. In the Riojan club he would not play too many matches and would return to his hometown to play for Estudiantes.

Ginóbili in Students of Bahía Blanca

After two years at the Bahi club, Manu emigrated to Italy, where he played for Viola Reggio Calabria and Virtus Bologna. At the latter club, he won two consecutive Lega MVP’s (2000–2001 and 2001–2002), a Euroleague MVP in 2001, another Copa Italia in 2002 and at group level won the triple crown (Lega, Copa Italia and Euroleague in 2000–2001).

In Italy, Manu had a great performance

His good performance in both Italian basketball and the national team, took him to the United States to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he wore the jersey of San Antonio Spurs. On the Texas state team, he played 16 seasons, earned four championship rings and became a legend, as, since March 2019, his jersey hangs aloft at the AT&T Center.

Together with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker he formed a great trident

On the other hand, outside of his career in the clubs, there is a separate paragraph for his time with the Argentine National Team that would begin in 1998 and end in 2016. Ginóbili was one of the members of the so-called “Golden Generation”, which knew how to leave Argentine sport at the top, since that team won the gold medal in the Olympic Games in Athens 2004, and the bronze in Beijing 2008, appointment in which he was the flag bearer of the national delegation. In addition, he was runner-up in the world at the 2002 World Cup in Indianapolis, a tournament where he shook up the basketball world by beating for the first time a United States made up of 12 NBA players.

In Athens 2004, Manu would stand out as one of the best players of the Argentine national team that won the gold medal

A great career that consecrated him as one of the best national athletes in history along with great figures from other disciplines such as Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Guillermo Vilas and Juan Manuel Fangio. Emanuel Ginóbili is the living history of national basketball and his legacy will continue to be present over the years, as legends do not disappear, but are eternal.

Original source in Spanish

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