SAN ANTONIO — Well, this was a no-brainer.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday announced the finalists for election in 2022, and among the few is Spurs great Manu Ginobili.
Over his 16-year NBA career – all with the Spurs – Ginobili 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.
When it was announced he was nominated to the Half of Fame, Ginobili expressed his gratitude for the honor.
"It is something very important at the basketball level," Ginobili said. "It is an honor. I saw it coming. It does not change me if they choose me or not. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t happen, nothing happens."
Should he be enshrined, he will join team legends George Gervin, Tim Duncan and David Robinson.
The entire Class of 2022 will be unveiled during the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans in early April.
The enshrinement ceremony is set to take place in Springfield, Mass., from Sept. 9 to 10.
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