Manu Ginóbili in the Basketball Hall of Fame: three arguments that reveal the importance of the idol of Bahía Blanca

Manu Ginobili he will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September. The native of Bahía Blanca achieved this distinction in the first nomination he had, after passing two filters and an exclusive selection among the finalists. the legend of the San Antonio Spurs and the Argentine team has multiple achievements, but there are three data that place it at the top in the history of world basketball. It should be noted that he is not a Hall of Fame exclusive to the NBA, he is something at a global level, including his participation in the FIBA ​​world and at an international level with his national team.

The inspiration of a generation

Manuwhich WWE star, endorsed a special movement in the NBA: the eurostep. He used it as a lethal weapon that was not easy to stop. This play consists of performing a double rite towards the hoop with the lateral steps, this allows you to avoid a player and reach the hoop with ease. The Argentine managed to polish this movement until he did it with mastery.

His time in the NBA did not go unnoticed, since he left a school. A clue as to who uses this move? The last MVP of the NBA Finals, the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo. The European has managed to imitate Manu and has recognized it on multiple occasions. In the video published by the NBA with the reason for the induction of Manu to the Hall of Famethe Bucks player said: “ Obviously, I also think about the eurostep and how I was inspired to add it to my attacking arsenal.” Just like him, there were many players who were inspired by Manu to add moves to their offensive arsenals.

Another great player who learned this move was James Harden. “La Barba” knew how to win many fouls with this eurostep inside the paint. While Harden hasn’t been as vocal as Giannis, he is known to hold a lot of respect for Manu.

There was a litter of players who grew up admiring the Spurs’ 20. It is not for less, Manu he knew how to cause a winning impact despite being a sixth man. The Argentine made all his talent available to the team, despite not being a starter. As you remember, Popovich brought him from the bench, but he always finished the game.

One that was pretty specific was Blake Griffin. The Brooklyn Nets player had this to say: “Manu changed the game NBA. She modified it and it began to play as he wanted. He is one of a kind.”

Given this, Nicolás Landi, a journalist for Doble Doble, one of the most important digital media specialized in basketball in Argentina, said the following: “Anyway. . Her eurostep was crazy. One of her most important movements and she did it with an elegance that caused her to imitate her on the neighborhood court or in some internal competition. I saw many players who tried to imitate him and that legacy is priceless. The Hall of Fame is another tribute to her great career in world basketball.”

Ginóbili will be the fifth Latin American to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame, after Panamanian John Isaacs and Brazilians Oscar Schmidt, Maciel Pereira and Hortencia Marcadi.

nba statistics

Winning trident in NBA history

The combination of three great players in the NBA is called the “Big 3”. With this we can denote that throughout history there were many teams that brought together three stars to win championships, so staying ahead on this list was quite complicated; Nevertheless, ManuTony Parker and Tim Duncan, the Big 3 version of the San Antonio Spurs, knew how to get into the NBA’s golden books by becoming the winningest trio in all of history, both in the regular season and in the PlayOffs

With 575 wins in the regular season and another 126 in the postseason, the trident led by Gregg Popovich remains at the top in terms of trios. And with that they won four rings together, coming face to face with the best teams in the entire history of the NBA.

Combining this with the individual plane, Manu He has the same number of titles as LeBron James, who is considered by many to be the best in history. Furthermore, he finished his illustrious career with 14,043 points, 4,001 assists, 3,697 rebounds and 1,392 steals, according to official NBA statistics.

In the same way, this team caused San Antonio to become one of the basketball cathedrals, since it became one of the NBA’s entertainers season after season. and always with Manu as one of the faces of the Spurs.

About this, Eugenio González, a member of the Dallas Mavericks social media team, stated the following: “They marked an era here in Texas. It was very difficult to receive them in Dallas and beat them. It was not easy to face that trident because they had everything: Tony handled the ball very well, Tim was a master in the post and Manu disrupted defenses, as Luka Doncic does now. I suffered as a spectator some loss of Mavericks against those Spurs. Apart from that, it was very nice to see them play, they were at one with each other and the game of looks was impressive: they knew each other by heart”.

Manu has the highest winning percentage in all NBA history

When we talk about greatness, many think of LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, among others. And they relate this to their winning dynasties. However, within the group of players who played more than 1,000 games in the NBA, the highest winning percentage belongs to Manu Ginobili.

According to official statistics, Manu He has a 72.1% win rate (762-295) throughout his career, becoming the most successful player in NBA history, above all the aforementioned legends.

Although it is a team sport, the impact of Manu It is notorious: he opted for triples when they were not as weighted as they are now, he used the eurostep as a lethal weapon and decided to challenge a coach like Popovich to show him that schemes can be broken if they have a purpose: to play good basketball to win.

Manu he understood role-playing and basketball in general very well. Over the years he understood opposing defenses better and became a lethal passer. As a perimeter defense he was one of the best and to this he added the mischief to steal balls, another of his specialties.

To these three arguments we must add one that contributes a lot: Ginobili was the commander of the Golden Generation of Argentina, a team that managed to beat the United States twice at the FIBA ​​level, something that had not been achieved before. He also managed to win the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Both at the numerical level and at the game level, Manu he deserved to pass all the filters and get his induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022. It was clear that if he didn’t make it this year, he would make it in the next. We knew that it was a matter of time before the best player in the history of Argentine basketball managed to reach the Olympus of basketball and be immortalized in history with a place in the Hall of Fame.

As for Manu’s winning gene, Maria Katia Vidal, a Peruvian journalist who covers the NBAsaid the following: “To explain the winning gene of Manu Ginobiliit is worth focusing on something that very few talk about: emotional intelligence and your basketball IQ. He is one of those few players who knew how to take his strengths to a superlative level; excellent passer and shooter, countless moments in which he surprised us with shots and circus movements in the face of the basket, a game that (in the same style as his teammate Tim Duncan) screams fundamentals. Part of his 72.1% career win rate is explained by those little-perceived details that go beyond points, rebounds and assists per game. Manu understood and read very well what Gregg Popovich wanted from him, he observed and attended to the requirements of his teammates on the court. From day one, he was very clear about his role in the team and how to be a key player in taking it to the next level. With the passing of the seasons he knew how to be that chameleon that he adapted to the circumstances. Not every day we have the privilege of seeing a player with those characteristics”.

When will the Hall of Fame induction ceremony be?

On September 10, 2022, in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Argentine Manu Ginobili will be officially inducted with the ceremony of Hall of Fame 2022.