San Antonio Spurs legends retiring from international basketball

Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both made the 2016 Rio Olympics the last time they will play for their respective national teams.

The San Antonio Spurs have had the luxury of having Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili playing together in their backcourt for the last 14 years. Parker was a first round draft selection of the Spurs in 2001, making his NBA debut that season. Ginobili was drafted in the second round in 1999, but did not play in the NBA until 2002.

Their contributions to the Spurs cannot be understated — they have led the team to four NBA championships. Their impact on international basketball with their respective national teams is at least as significant. Both stars will see their FIBA careers come to an end this year in Rio, as both have announced their retirement from their national teams.

For Ginobili, his retirement from the Argentinian team marks the end of a legendary international career. Ginobili led Argentina to arguably the greatest men’s basketball upset in Olympic history, when his team defeated the United States in the semifinal round at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Argentina went on to defeat Italy in the final, cementing Ginobili’s legacy as a national hero.

Ginobili is the only non-U.S. player in history to win both an NBA championship and a gold medal.

Parker announced his retirement from international basketball on Thursday, after his French team was blown out by a Pau Gasol-led Spanish squad. Parker has been the face of France’s national team for the last 16 years, having helped them win the gold medal in juniors when he was 18. Though the country has never won an Olympic medal since he has led the team, he is still regarded as one of the best FIBA players of his era.

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Both players have already stated that they will return to the Spurs for another season in 2016-17, as they try to lead the team back to the NBA Finals. It will be their first season playing without Tim Duncan, the future first-ballot Hall of Fame center who retired this past off-season. The team did pick up Pau Gasol this off-season to ease the blow of losing Duncan, so they should once again be a contender in the Western Conference.