“Naaah. No way. Who is going to pick me in the draft?
June 29, 1999. Macapá, state of Amapá. The Argentine National Team is, unusually, on the banks of the Amazon, hours away from playing a friendly against the locals. Neither of the two selected reached the Olympic event in Sydney and they put together a series of matches on Brazilian soil, the last one too far away. The humor of the players is not the best but this chronicler who writes had to fulfill his job, although the answer seemed to be sung. One month after his 22nd birthday, Emanuel David Ginóbili was in the calendar year to be chosen in the NBA draft, the famous annual selection that the teams make to reinforce themselves, mostly with players from the universities -although now there are more and more foreigners-, seeking to match the fight, That is why they choose first those who did worse in the last campaign.
It was already early morning when the phone rang at the hotel. From Argentina they warned that Manu had been chosen in penultimate place (57 of 58). “Go to the hotel early, let him know and make a note,” the order started from Buenos Aires, knowing that he was the only special envoy. That’s how it went. Around 8 o’clock, when the delegation was still asleep, authorization was requested from the concierge. “We cannot disturb the players, any communication is with the team leader,” was the response. So it was that we told him, who was in charge of waking up and telling the good news to the shooting guard from Bahia, who in 1997 had stood out in the U22 World Cup and in 1998 had successfully debuted in the Major League, in the World Cup in Greece. “It is true? Aren’t they screwing me?” was the first thing she asked in the lobby. When we ratified the news, after a moment of disbelief, we began to make the note. He admitted that he knew they were being followed, but that he would never have thought that they would decide to select him, he admitted that as a boy he liked the Spurs, because of David Robinson, and did not want to dream much more when he moved on to other questions …
-Can you imagine receiving a pass from Duncan for a triple?
-No (laughs). Today I don’t think about the NBA, I still don’t feel qualified to play there.
Realistic, as he always was, he said that he had to continue improving in Reggio Calabria, the team where he had played since 1998. Precisely, when the election announced by Rod Thorn -Vice of the NBA- arrived, the TV hosts of the draft gave that information and little more, in addition to having a hard time pronouncing the surname. “It is perimeter of 1.98 meters, born in Argentina. He knows how to play behind screens, he knows how to move the ball to shoot, and he’s solid defensively. He is a good choice at this point.”. With the latter, they hit the key. The Spurs had been following him for two years, specifically RC Buford, who at that time was the franchise’s new Director of Scouting – today he is the boss of operations, along with Gregg Popovich-.
Buford, 37, appeared in Melbourne during the U22 World Cup and was introduced to Julio Lamas, the coach of the national team that was about to play the final of the tournament, if it had not been for an agonizing triple from an Australian .
-I wanted to ask you for data on a player, if possible.
-Yes, from whom? Victorian, Oberto?
Lamas replied, because at that time it was the national jewels.
-No, the skinny one.
-Ginobili?
–Yes, from him. What it’s like?
Julio froze but gave him the first references. From there, he was the permanent reference source for the Spurs, for two years. Every detail wanted. Until they selected him. Following the election, interest intensified further. Beginning in ’98, Lamas sent Buford monthly progress reports. RC wanted to know everything, even the personal. That year was the first time that, Taking advantage of the Spurs’ trip to Italy to play the McDonald’s Open, the manager met with the young figure from Reggio Calabria to learn more about it. While Buford followed him closely, Pop saw him in international tournaments, as happened in the 2001 World Cup, in which Manu broke it and Argentina was undefeated champion in Neuquén. Among those who saw there and at Kinder Bologna, already converted into the best European team after winning the Lega, the Italian Cup and the Euroleague, they were convinced that the Bahian was more than Gordan Giricek, the other prospect they seriously considered. It was a Croatian shooting guard who was a better shooter than Manu, but lost in the other sections, especially thinking in the long term.
Ginobili’s future was tantalizing. In two years he had gone from playing in the Italian second division to being the star of the best team in Europe. And, if we go back three, let’s not forget that he was playing in the Argentine National League. “They saw enormous progress defensively because his offensive talent and mentality left no doubt,” remember who was in charge of sending the reports. “I am amazed. I have never seen a competitor like this, I have no doubt that it is what we need,” said Pop, in the privacy of the 2002 World Cup.when from the audience he saw how his chicken and the rest of his “brothers in shirts” destroyed rivals, including the United States team, the first to lose with the NBA after an undefeated 58 games.
Then there was one more step: convince Manu to sign him. The Argentine was a star in Europe and doubted the offer (2.9 million for two years). “If he plays well, he will renew for the triple, like Stojakovic now,” RC told Lamas so he could tell Ginóbili. Buford finally convinced him at a face-to-face dinner in April 2002. “We’re going to have a great time,” he told her. And what if it was so. Manu won four rings, being a superstar worker, because he did everything the teams needed to win, including relinquishing ownership, minutes, shots and millions of dollars. A practically unique case in history. That is why his legacy goes beyond numbers, awards and even rings. A footprint that was not enough to be among the 75 most important players in history, but it was enough to enter the Hall of Fame -the ceremony will be on September 10-.
For everything he did, Manu’s is considered one of the biggest “steals” in draft history. Nikola Jokic, today already a superstar who carries his team, surpasses him. He was chosen before Manu, with the 41st pick in the second round of 2014, but the two MVPs in a row take him away from a place that Ginobili never held in the NBA. Draymond Green (position #35 in 2012), he is surely on the same level as MG, although of course he was chosen 22 places earlier. Drazen Petrovic (# 60, 3rd round, 1986), Isaiah Thomas (#60, 2da, from 2011), Marc Gasol (#48 in 2007), Jeff Hornacek (#46 in 1986) and Lou Williams (#45 in 2005) enter the consideration, although they are surpassed by Manu.
The difference with Manu, in most cases, is that hardly anyone expected anything, because he was a stranger. Even for his companions who received him in the city. Tim Duncan made it clear the night the Spurs retired the No. 20 jersey, in an act reserved only for legends. “Usually I sat down to watch the draft, although I didn’t really want to because we usually chose people I had never felt or named. And that night I saw him, when I heard his name (he imitated Manu’s last name, with his pronunciation), I called Pop to see who he was… He told me ‘it’s going to be great, I don’t know what else’. And I told him ‘ok, Pop, whatever you say’”, Tim making it clear that he did not have much confidence in the selection. A couple of years ago, in a tournament, he saw for the first time that “crazy” bet of the coach. “I found him one summer, he approached me, told me his name and that he was in the Spurs”, recalled in a kind of documentary that the franchise made with the trident and Pop sitting in the middle of the court, remembering the beginnings of the trio. “No, you’re not, I thought, like it was one more of Pop’s experiments that I wouldn’t even get to know,” he commented while everyone laughed.
So it was at that time. he was a stranger. An unknown who helped change the course of a franchise, who collaborated in changing the conception of the game and the roles, who formed one of the most remembered Big 3 of all time, who patented one of the most emblematic moves in history and who marked the lives and careers of so many. Since that night in Macapá when, while he slept, his name began to be known in the great world of sports.
