Spurs guard Manu Ginobili announces his NBA retirement

Following 16 years in the NBA that were all spent with the San Antonio Spurs, guard Manu Ginobili has announced his retirement from the league on Monday, via ESPN.

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, 41, announced Monday that he is retiring.

“Today, with a wide range of feelings, I’m announcing my retirement from basketball,” he said in a tweet. “It’s been a fabulous journey. Way beyond my wildest dreams.”

There had been chatter prior to that decision that he had been contemplating retirement as he had the year prior before inking a two-year, $5 million deal. Ginobili has been twittering with that decision over the last couple of summers that he ultimately chose to call it a career. He was one of the centerpieces of the Spurs sustained success over nearly the last two decades alongside Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.

Although he didn’t have the flashy numbers, Ginobili was one of the league’s top guards during the prime of his career that saw his use of the Euro-Step has a major impact on the game. This saw him finish with four NBA titles, two All-Star Game selections, a pair All-NBA Third Team nods, a Sixth Man of the Year award, and an NBA All-Rookie Second Team selection. In his 16 year career, he averaged 13.3 points on 44.7 percent shooting from the floor and 36.9 percent from 3-point range along with 3.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds in 25.4 minutes per contest in 1,057 career games.

His performance on the court along with being a vital part of the Spurs’ success over his career should one day put him in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as he also had much success with the Argentina National Team. He had developed into a superstar with his country helping lead them to a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens as well as a pair of gold medals in the FIBA AmeriCup in 2001 and 2011.