Ginobili plans to return to the Spurs

Guard considered retiring, says he’ll play 2 more years

Manu Ginobili is sticking around to see if the San Antonio Spurs can get back to the top.

Ginobili tweeted Wednesday that he is staying with the team he has helped win three NBA titles and nearly a fourth last month.

“Thrilled to announce that as I always hoped, I’m gonna stay with the ( at) Spurs for two more years,” he wrote.

Ginobili, who turns 36 this month, battled injuries during the season and said he would think about retirement after the playoffs. But he helped the Spurs come within 28 seconds of the championship before falling to the Miami Heat in seven games, and his return ensures the longtime Big Three that includes Tim Duncan and Tony Parker will be in place next season.

Details of the contract agreement weren’t available, but Ginobili fi gures to take a pay cut from the $ 14.1 million he made last season as the Spurs’ highest- paid player. Duncan did the same thing last summer, going from $ 21.2 million to $ 9.6 million.

Teams can reach agreements with free agents, but contracts can’t be signed before July 10.

The playoffs were rough in spots for Ginobili, raising more questions about whether the Spurs would be willing to bring him back considering his age and the heavy wear on his legs from international competition with Argentina. He won Olympic gold at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.

Bulls: Guard Derrick Rose says he’s still recovering from knee surgery and vows to show sitting out last season was the right decision.

In an interview posted on the team’s website, Rose said he had to be selfi sh in his rehab as he tried to work his way back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and that sitting out was “one of the hardest things” he’s experienced.

He also said fans will understand it was “the right decision” when they see him back on the court. Rose hasn’t played since he crumbled to the court near the end of the 2012 playoff opener against Philadelphia, sending the top- seeded Bulls to a fi rstround exit. He had surgery on May 12 that year.

Hawks: Three- point specialist Kyle Korver reached an agreement to re- sign with Atlanta on a multiyear deal, a person familiar with the situation told the Atlanta Journal- Constitution. Per NBA rules, the contract cannot be signed until July 10.