SAN ANTONIO — During his playing days, Spurs great Manu Ginobili was a headache for opposing defenders.
His frenetic style of play, relentlessness and ability to impact both ends of the floor was incredible. So, it makes sense why Celtics icon, Paul Pierce, felt he was doing a solid job defending him one-on-one during a match up between Boston and San Antonio.
Well, so he thought he was doing a good job at stopping the Spurs legend.
Pierce shared a hilarious story about his time defending Ginobili and how proud he was of slowing him down.
So much so that he called out his teammate, Kevin Garnett, for allowing Spur Matt Bonner to have an incredible game against Boston.
However, the reason why Pierce was slowing down Ginobili was because in the end, he wasn't.
"I'm working by butt off. I'm shutting Ginobili down. Next thing you know, Matt Bonner is going off. He got 20 points at the half, right? So I hold Ginobili to about six or seven points," Pierce explained. "Who the hell got Mantt Bonner? I'm over here working my butt off guarding Ginobili."
Pierce went on to say he was calling out Garnett for letting Bonner score so many points when Garnett revealed exactly why that was happening.
"The reason he [Bonner] got 20 points is because I was helping your [bleep] out slow down Ginobili," said Garnett.
Incredible!
There are likely countless stories from other players about Ginobili being a problem defensively to fill a book.
And that play is what has him knocking on the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's door.
Ginobili is a finalist for enshrinement, and his basketball resume makes him a shoo-in.
Over his 16-year NBA career – all with the Spurs – he amassed 14,043 points, 4,001 assists, 3,697 rebounds and 1,392 steals, and was honored with the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2008, as well as twice being named to the All-NBA Third Team (2008, 2011).
On the international stage, Ginobili helped deliver the first and only gold medal in Argentina's basketball history at the 2004 Olympics, as well as the bronze at the 2008 games. He joins Bill Bradley as the only two players to have won a EuroLeague title (2001), an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5