duncan228
04-06-2009, 11:57 PM
Next for Manu one lefty to another (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Next_for_Manu__one_lefty_to_another.html)
Buck Harvey
Manu Ginobili isn't finished. Doctors see no reason he won't be fine after this summer, assuming the Argentina national team isn't in charge of rehab.
He will come back with one year left on his contract, and we will see.
But instead of being consumed with that, or with the Manu-less Spurs looking like the Duncan-less Spurs of 2000, think about what will become of this brittle lefty.
Someday, he will be like another brittle lefty.
There's never been such a juxtaposition of news in franchise history. Ginobili had one of his worst Mondays, while
David Robinson had one of his best.
Robinson deserved to have the day to himself. One of his fellow Hall of Fame classmates, Michael Jordan, had already stolen most of the national attention.
But such things never mattered to Robinson. And, really, the Hall of Fame was anticlimactic for him anyway. Everyone knew early in his career he would see Springfield.
That's a contrast to Ginobili. In 1999, when he was drafted just days after Robinson won his first title, Ginobili was sure to someday see Perϊ.
There were other contrasts. Robinson went at the top of the draft, Ginobili near the bottom. Robinson battled questions about his toughness, Ginobili never did.
And then there were their bodies. Robinson's was taller and stronger and faster.
Still, beefy men beat on Robinson for a decade, and Ginobili punished himself. Eventually both broke down. Just as Robinson returned from a strained back to break a foot in 1996, Ginobili returned from ankle surgery to hurt the other foot.
An Olympic similarity: Robinson played in Atlanta in 1996 with a hernia, weakening his core, likely leading to what followed.
Some of it is luck, but the physicians who tend to these world-class athletes see a trend. These bodies are finely tuned machines. When one piece gets out of whack, that affects other pieces.
When their pieces were whole, these two were brilliant. Robinson and Ginobili were unique, with skill sets and mind-sets that didn't match up with the crowd.
And when they were together, they won. The only season they played together, they earned rings.
That 2003 team might eventually go down as a lineup of legends. If Tony Parker can continue to impress and winning a first-round series this season would impress then those Spurs could count four Hall of Fame players on their roster.
Robinson certainly has memories of that team. Monday in Detroit, when the class of 2009 was announced, he went back to his final game.
If I had to pick one night in my career, he told reporters there, it would probably be walking off the court as a champion and knowing that was going to be my last memory of basketball.
Those memories stick with those who vote for the Hall of Fame. But championships are not the only requirement; Jerry Sloan and John Stockton prove that.
This honor can be about other achievements, and those on the world stage mean a lot. Robinson was the most active men's basketball player in USA Basketball history, playing in three Olympics. And Ginobili, with his gold medal in 2004, took Argentina to a place no one dreamed possible.
Add his successes in Italy and no one will care that he was an NBA All-Star only once. He will see Springfield someday, too.
Then?
When medical opinions don't matter anymore, Ginobili will again be like Robinson.
Buck Harvey
Manu Ginobili isn't finished. Doctors see no reason he won't be fine after this summer, assuming the Argentina national team isn't in charge of rehab.
He will come back with one year left on his contract, and we will see.
But instead of being consumed with that, or with the Manu-less Spurs looking like the Duncan-less Spurs of 2000, think about what will become of this brittle lefty.
Someday, he will be like another brittle lefty.
There's never been such a juxtaposition of news in franchise history. Ginobili had one of his worst Mondays, while
David Robinson had one of his best.
Robinson deserved to have the day to himself. One of his fellow Hall of Fame classmates, Michael Jordan, had already stolen most of the national attention.
But such things never mattered to Robinson. And, really, the Hall of Fame was anticlimactic for him anyway. Everyone knew early in his career he would see Springfield.
That's a contrast to Ginobili. In 1999, when he was drafted just days after Robinson won his first title, Ginobili was sure to someday see Perϊ.
There were other contrasts. Robinson went at the top of the draft, Ginobili near the bottom. Robinson battled questions about his toughness, Ginobili never did.
And then there were their bodies. Robinson's was taller and stronger and faster.
Still, beefy men beat on Robinson for a decade, and Ginobili punished himself. Eventually both broke down. Just as Robinson returned from a strained back to break a foot in 1996, Ginobili returned from ankle surgery to hurt the other foot.
An Olympic similarity: Robinson played in Atlanta in 1996 with a hernia, weakening his core, likely leading to what followed.
Some of it is luck, but the physicians who tend to these world-class athletes see a trend. These bodies are finely tuned machines. When one piece gets out of whack, that affects other pieces.
When their pieces were whole, these two were brilliant. Robinson and Ginobili were unique, with skill sets and mind-sets that didn't match up with the crowd.
And when they were together, they won. The only season they played together, they earned rings.
That 2003 team might eventually go down as a lineup of legends. If Tony Parker can continue to impress and winning a first-round series this season would impress then those Spurs could count four Hall of Fame players on their roster.
Robinson certainly has memories of that team. Monday in Detroit, when the class of 2009 was announced, he went back to his final game.
If I had to pick one night in my career, he told reporters there, it would probably be walking off the court as a champion and knowing that was going to be my last memory of basketball.
Those memories stick with those who vote for the Hall of Fame. But championships are not the only requirement; Jerry Sloan and John Stockton prove that.
This honor can be about other achievements, and those on the world stage mean a lot. Robinson was the most active men's basketball player in USA Basketball history, playing in three Olympics. And Ginobili, with his gold medal in 2004, took Argentina to a place no one dreamed possible.
Add his successes in Italy and no one will care that he was an NBA All-Star only once. He will see Springfield someday, too.
Then?
When medical opinions don't matter anymore, Ginobili will again be like Robinson.