Spurs’ Manu Ginobili on brink of basketball immortality after being named Hall of Fame finalist
CLEVELAND — Isiah Thomas had been retired for nearly a decade when Manu Ginobili made his NBA debut as a 25-year-old rookie with the Spurs on Oct. 29, 2002.
Spurs assistant coach and former WNBA star Becky Hammon, who was first nominated for the Hall of Fame in 2017, again was bypassed. Hammon was being judged for her career as a record-setting WNBA point guard because she isn’t yet eligible for her accomplishments as a pioneering coach in the NBA. The finalists will be presented to the Honors Committee and must receive a minimum of 18 of the 24 votes to be elected to the Hall of Fame. The inductees will be announced during the Final Four in April, and it seems a safe bet Ginobili will be on that list.A two-time All-Star and the 2008 NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Ginobili helped the Spurs reach the Finals five times and win four championships during his 16 seasons with the club after it drafted him in the second round in 1999.
“He deserves it with what he did for the Spurs with that dynasty they had and with him fitting in so perfectly on those teams,” Thomas said. “I remember watching him playing with Argentina’s and just how fantastic they were moving the basketball. And then he did the same thing with the Spurs. I am very happy for him.”