Spurs’ Manu Ginobili shoots down rumors that he, Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich will retire
By Chris Walder
Don’t mention retirement talk around Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs. Just don’t.
During a media conference on Saturday, Ginobili was asked about the possibility that he, Tim Duncan and head coach Gregg Popovich would walk off into the sunset together if the San Antonio Spurs win the 2014 NBA Finals. His response was that of someone who would prefer not to hear assumptions from those who have little knowledge of what they’re collectively thinking, per Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders:
Manu on rumor that he, Pop and Tim will go out on top: "You have no data to support that. You haven't talked to any of us to support that."
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 14, 2014
If the Spurs win Game 5 on Sunday night against the Miami Heat, they’ll earn their fifth NBA Championship in the Gregg Popovich/Tim Duncan era. Ginobili, who joined the team in 2002, would win his fourth.
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Duncan is 38 years old and Ginobili is 36, so while it may come off as an asinine thought to the players, many members of the media do wonder if this would be the appropriate time to retire.
Not only that, but ending their careers on top by defeating LeBron James and the Heat, and redeeming their loss in 2013, would be the perfect cap to their hall-of-fame tenures.
Popovich revealed earlier in the day that he’s nowhere near tired and that he’d like to continue being the coach of the Spurs for the foreseeable future.
Bovada has even created odds on what both Duncan and Popovich will do should the team win it all this year.