Shortlisted for the Hall of Fame
The Naismith Hall of Fame announced the final list of candidates for the 2022 Class of Fame, and in the NBA League, Ginobili, Tim Hardaway, George Carr and other five people were shortlisted. For many fans, Manu Ginobili is a mythical player who followed the league's best team, the San Antonio Spurs, to the playoffs for 16 seasons in his career, winning the championship trophy four times, and also beating the American Dream team on the international field to win the Olympic gold medal.
These accolades all tell us what a great team player Manu Ginobili is. However, when we look at his personal data, we find that Ginobili is only a second-round show, averaging only 13.3 points per game in his career, so why can such a player, who has played a lifetime as a substitute, enter the ranks of All-Stars?
Ginobili's NBA career
The evaluation of a basketball player's career is generally from two aspects, the first is length, and the second is height. Length refers to his personal performance throughout his career, as well as the team honors he has achieved, and the height is what level he is at in the league during a peak season. In fact, regardless of the NBA career, just by leading Argentina at the Olympics and beating the American Dream Team, this honor can make Ginobili on the stage of the Hall of Fame. However, Ginobili's NBA career is also worthy of being selected.
Yes, regardless of the impact on the international stage, relying solely on the success achieved in the NBA, Manu Ginobili will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame without suspense.
Four championship trophies, all as a mainstay, including the 2006–07 season, where he was incredibly close to the FMVP honor. Add in two All-Star terms, two Best Team, and best sixth man honors, and he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This is an honor for the length of Manu Ginobili's career, which no one will deny, but there are still people who will say that Ginobili has never been a superstar in the league, at least he has not reached that height, for which it can only be said to be a big mistake.
Popovich has said that the greatest thing of his coaching career is to put Manu Ginobili on the bench. If you remember, Ginobili had a nickname, and that was 20 Minutes Jordan. That is to say, in the limited playing time, he is Michael Jordan on the court. At this point, the data does not lie.
What level is the peak Manu?
Manu Ginobili's peak season should be the 2007-28 season, when Manu averaged 19.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, shooting 46.0% from the field and 40.1 from three-point range. However, Manu averaged only 31.1 minutes per game that year. If you convert that into 100 rounds, Ginobili is 33.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 2.6 steals and 0.8 blocks. The defense fell as soon as it touched, and the attacking five people could not hold back.
Looking at that season, Manu's 100-round score was also in sixth place in the league. The top five are 23-year-old Young Emperor LeBron James, D'Antoni's Pinnacle Littles, then-league first man Kobe Bryant, German tank Dirk Nowitzki, and Cameron Anthony, who has the title of offensive kaleidoscope. It can be seen from here that Manu's offensive level at his peak should be the ranks of the first gear of the league.
Therefore, Manu Ginobili only sacrificed himself for the team because of the Spurs, so his career was mediocre, but in terms of the real level of the individual, his peak was the level of the first gear in the league. 16 seasons in his career are also long enough. Such a Manu Ginobili, inducted into the Hall of Fame, can be said to be well-deserved.