Nba, Popovich on Ginobili: ‘The first time I saw him …’

It took them a while, but in the end they loved each other so much. Gregg Popovich talks about his Manu Ginobili the day after the legendary Argentine was inducted into the 2022 class of the Hall of Fame: “Deserved and awaited milestone, I’m happy for him – says Pop, Manu’s coach for 16 years at Spurs -. I am as happy as the whole city of San Antonio and I imagine the whole of Argentina ”.

first time

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Pop remembers the first time he saw Ginobili: “It was a videotape of him in action while he was still playing abroad,” he says of the 57th choice in the 1999 Draft, chosen when he was still playing in Italy. The judgment became more precise when Pop met Manu: “We knew we had a wild and competitive player, a young man who loved basketball, was athletic and fearless, able to do whatever it took to win. A force of nature “.

eurostep

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The Spurs coach also jokes about Eurostep, the movement that Ginobili has transformed into a standard for every NBA player. “The first time I saw it… I had no idea what the hell it was, but it sure didn’t seem right. It was different, but in the end it followed the rules ”.