Ginobili keeps playing ‘because I can’
Manu Ginobili doesn’t know if retirement will ever feel right.
He flirted with the inevitable this offseason, but his love affair that has lasted 15 seasons eventually lured him back into its grasp.
Ginobili said he came “pretty close” to calling it quits but, in the end, he still loved basketball enough. And basketball still loved him enough.
When asked why he decided to come back, his reasons were simple.
“Because I can,” Ginobili said. “Because I still have the option to choose. Because I love what I do. I think that goes without saying. And because I had two wonderful options — one option is going to still be there the following year, or two years ahead, or three or four. This one was either a yes or that was it.”
Ginobili, 40, wasn’t ready to pull the trigger. The breakup was premature. He wanted a little bit more time. But first he had to make sure basketball wanted him, too.
He said his conversation with Gregg Popovich over the summer was simple. The coach didn’t try to persuade him. Instead, he leveled with him.
“In a situation like that, I don’t think it would be a good idea to convince him to come back,” Popovich said. “When you are 53 years old and you are trying to decide whether to play again, you need to talk to your family