Ginobili among 8 new Hall inductees
» When Manu Ginobili reflects on the odds of a kid from Argentina growing up to win four NBA titles and Olympic gold, he sounds in awe that is in fact the story of his athletic life.
“It’s one in tens of millions,” Ginobili said on Saturday after an official announcement on Saturday that he has now also been indicted into the Hall of Fame. “The odds are very, very slim and it just happened to me. I don’t know what happened, but I was the one.
“I happen to be an important part of two very iconic teams of those couple decades of both FIBA and with the NBA. Incredibly lucky and fortunate to be a part of those two.”
Ginobili, five-time AllStar Tim Hardaway and decorated former coach George Karl were the household NBA names in the 2022 class of Basketball Hall of Fame inductees announced in New Orleans at the site of the NCAA Final Four.
Also selected this year were former WNBA champion and two-time college national champion Swin Cash; long-time college coach Bob Huggins, WNBA champion and twotime Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsay Whalen; NCAA national championship coach and former WNBA Coach of the Year Marianne Stanley, and former NBA official Hugh Evans.
The class will be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Sept. 10.
Ginobili, a two-time AllStar spent his entire 16-year NBA career with San Antonio,
which as a big reason he’s now going into the Hall of Fame. He similarly credited his long stint with an Argentina national team that regularly among the best in the world.
“I was a part of two incredible teams; if it wasn’t for being part of those two teams, I wouldn’t be here,” Ginobili said. “It’s not just about individual accomplishments. I never won a scoring championship, an MVP or even (AllNBA) First Team. I’m here because of my surroundings, of the players I played with, of the coaches I was coached (by) and the organizations. I know I’ve been very lucky.”
But Ginobili did leave his mark on the game in the way he employed lateral movement after picking up his dribble to get up shots in the paint. It became known as the “Eurostep.”