Earlier in the day, the soon-to-be 40-year-old talked about his future and acknowledged this could be it. ABC’s broadcasters talked about Ginobili as the Spurs were losing in the second half as if it might be the star’s final game.
The Spurs tweeted some compliments about Manu:
Only two second round draft picks to score 3,000+ career points in the #NBAPlayoffs:
Dennis Johnson
MANU GINOBILI— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 23, 2017
And Popovich spoke highly about the career Spur before the game:
Before what could be Manu Ginobili's final game, Spurs' Gregg Popovich compares his guard's competitiveness to Kobe Bryant & Michael Jordan pic.twitter.com/7iZ0rPb1pm
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 22, 2017
Then after playing 35 minutes and scoring 15 points in the game, Ginobili received chants and an ovation from the crowd in the final few minutes of the game. Even the players involved in the game paid respect:
Spurs fans and players cheer as Manu Ginobili checks out of Game 4 pic.twitter.com/AwqrOCoPEc
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 23, 2017
Manu Ginobili leaves the game- could be his last game as a Spur.
Twitter crashing for the 4th time :( pic.twitter.com/FSHmFKATHN
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) May 23, 2017
Warriors stars like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry paid their respects. The Warriors even tweeted a shoutout to Ginobili:
Much respect, Manu!
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) May 23, 2017
A star off the bench for much of his career, Ginobili has won four NBA titles, reached two All-Star Games, was a two-time All-NBA player and was named NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. He’s still been able to get it done even at his age, as he put together a huge effort for San Antonio in Game 5 of the conference semis against Houston and a nice game in Game 1 of the conference finals against the Warriors.
