The Argentine Emanuel Ginóbili spoke for the first time about his feelings after being chosen to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Bahiense maintained that it was an “unexpected” recognition, but that he feels “flattered” by this tribute that comes four years after his professional retirement.
“I’m happy with what just happened. It’s something that had been talked about for a couple of years and those who knew about it told me it was going to happen, but until it did, I had no illusions or wanted to dedicate any energy to it,” Manu said in an interview with NBA Latam.
The 44-year-old Bahiense described this recognition as “unexpected” and recounted how he lived the hours after the announcement made on April 2: “When the repercussions begin to arrive, one begins to give it more value. I am reluctant to individual awards, I do not value them so much initially. Later I realize that it is something gross, important. When September arrives and it’s there, the tab will finish falling “.
The enthronement of the class of 2022 will take place during the festivities in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 8-9.
The most outstanding phrases of Manu Ginobili
- “The previous Monday was the day of the call, I did not know that it was going to be leaked. They told me that announcement was made on Saturday. One day I was watching my children’s training and I see on the phone that something happened. It had leaked. From the outset it was to respond, to say thank you very much. It’s nice to know that people are happy, that some even get excited about something that happens to you.”
- “We are close to completing four years since my last game, that things continue to happen related to my career flatters me a lot”.
- “When my career ended, the retirement of the jersey happened (in San Antonio Spurs), I closed the blind. Nothing that comes from now on occupies my neurons. What’s coming is a nice award, an honor for what I did, but that’s it. I don’t play anymore and I can’t generate something new. Everything is done, I can’t modify anything and it doesn’t depend on me. I left everything I had to leave on the court, the rest is anecdotal and can be superlative, like this (from the Hall of Fame)”.
- “I’m not one to get excited, maybe at the time of the speech (speech) something comes up. At the end of August I am going to sit down and write it.
- “My tutor has to be someone who is already in the Hall of Fame. Then it will be David Robinson or Tim Ducan. I have an emotional bond with them, they were partners”.
- “My career was very privileged, to be in a place like this (San Antonio) with people who valued and valued me. At the same time I had the indescribable fortune of having the same thing in parallel with the National Team. It is something very unusual. I greatly appreciate everything that happened, from the great victories like an Olympic gold to the ones that broke my heart.”
- “I played until 41, I had nothing left. Since 2013 I had already been considering the opportunity to leave and I played four or five more seasons. For me it had been very hard and I began to consider it internally. I was preparing while it was happening. That made the transition easy and extremely pleasant. There wasn’t a moment when I said ‘How I wish I was there’. I look at it from this side with a cup of tea and go to bed when it’s over.”
- “I thought it was going to cost me more, that I was going to miss the adrenaline of the competition more, and the truth is that I didn’t. I can’t imagine how he did it, being under that constant pressure. Thinking about it makes me exhausted. I have spent four years without almost touching a basketball court, neither series nor games. Now I have other priorities.”
The historic achievement of Manu Ginobili
Former Argentine basketball player Emanuel Ginóbili, four-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs, was officially elected on April 2 as a new member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, which he will join on September 9 after a ceremony for the litter 2022 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Manu will thus become the first Argentine basketball player to achieve this distinction and the fifth South American after the Brazilians Oscar Schmidt, Maciel Periera and Hortencia Marcari and the Panamanian John Isaacs.
The Argentine’s nomination was formalized by gathering at least 18 votes among the 24 members of the Honor Committee, a body made up of Hall of Fame members, journalists and other experts.
Source: TN.
