Ginobili closing in on return to San Antonio

Guard Manu Ginobili is eying a 16th season with the San Antonio Spurs, ESPN reported.

Ginobili reportedly is finalizing terms on a deal that will allow him to play in the 2017-18 season and put off retirement for at least one more year.

The soon-to-be 40-year-old has not publicly divulged his plans following the Spurs’ ouster in the Western Conference final by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.

Ginobili is a four-time NBA champion, an Olympic gold medalist with Argentina and a Euroleague MVP. He averaged a career-low 7.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season, during which he made $14 million.

In other NBA news, Nike has unveiled new uniforms for the 2017-2018 season that dispense with traditional “home” and “away” team designations.

The home team will instead pick from four primary uniforms to be worn at all home games and visiting teams will choose a contrasting uniform within their own assortment.

White ‘Association’ uniforms will replace the typical home jersey, while the ‘Icon’ version uses the team’s primary color and replaces the road uniforms.

Nike, which has replaced Adidas as the NBA’s uniform supplier, will reveal the two remaining uniforms in the coming months.

The world’s No. 1 footwear maker said on Tuesday that it employed 3D-body maps of players, including heat and sweat maps, to design cooler, lighter uniforms for players to wear during the NBA’s grueling 82-game season.

NBA players tested early versions of the uniforms and provided feedback that prompted Nike to evolve the designs in ways that included moving the armhole, neck and side seams to eliminate distractions for athletes, the company said.