Written by Michael C. Wright at ESPN.com
As the minutes ticked away in the Spurs’ 129-115 elimination loss to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals on Monday, the remaining fans packed in the AT&T Center stood and waved Spurs towels while chanting, “Manu, Manu, Manu.”
Manu Ginobili walked off the court with 2 minutes, 25 seconds left to a standing ovation. Then he sat on the bench next to one of his closest friends, Patty Mills.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know why these guys are giving you a standing ovation for,'” Mills said. “And he said, ‘Yeah, I’m coming back for another three years,’ or whatever it was.”
Certainly, Ginobili’s joke would be the wish for most Spurs fans, who might have just witnessed the veteran guard play his final game in San Antonio. Having come off the bench for the majority of his 15 NBA seasons, Ginobili was informed Sunday by coach Gregg Popovich that he would start Game 4 against the Warriors. Ginobili responded by leading the short-handed Spurs with 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting to go with seven assists, while showing the world there might still be some good basketball in his 39-year-old body.
The start marked Ginobili’s first in the postseason since 2013.
“We started him tonight out of respect,” Popovich said. “That was the whole reason for starting him. Before the game, you think it may or may not be his last game that he ever plays in, and I did not want to miss the opportunity to honor him in front of our home fans for his selflessness over the years. This is a Hall of Fame player who allowed me to bring him off the bench for — I can’t even remember now — the last decade or something, because it would make us a better team overall.
“He deserved to have that night of respect so that he really feels that we appreciate everything he’s done over the years.”
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