“If I could choose which era, I’d like to play now”: Manu Ginobili reckons he would have loved to play in today’s NBA

Manu Ginobili is one of the most underrated Shooting Guards in the history of the game, but he wanted to be a contemporary.

When people talk about Shooting guards, three legacy names come to mind- Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. All superstars in their own right, and rightly so, but people don’t give Manu Ginobili his due.

A 6ft 6 SG who played his whole NBA career with one team, won 4 championships and was one of the best scorers off the bench, Ginobili is a true legend.

I remember the first NBA 2K I started playing, the NBA 2K11- Everyone picked the high profile teams like the Knicks, the Lakers, the Heat and even OKC, but the real ones knew Spurs were the one to beat.

The Spurs Big 3 was something so non NBA- they were all about fundamentals. Tony Parker at the 1, Manu Ginobili at 2, and Duncan at 4.

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A one-team man, like a very select few in the league have been in the history of the league, Manu and the others along with Gregg “Pop” Popovich formed a dynasty so strong, yet so underrated.

Tim Duncan won the same amount of rings as Kobe, and bar that one legendary shot from Ray Allen, he would have had the same record as Michael Jordan, yet he doesn’t feature in a lot of top 5’s.

When speaking of the best point guards ever, Tony’s name barely ever comes up. The Spurs are the vanilla ice cream of the NBA world. Super fundamental, but very very necessary.

Spurs great Manu Ginobili proved to be a handful for opposing defenses during his NBA playing days

The guy who made the euro step popular at least for me, was definitely one of my go to guys whenever I played any video game. He was a great one-on-one basketball player, fearless to drive to the rim.

When asked in a recent interview on who he thought where similar to him, he picked a few. The usual answers, ( MJ, Kobe) mixed with a few current players (KD, Steph).

When asked about who he would have liked to defend against, he was quick to pick Zach Lavine and Spida Mitchell, two fast young athletic guys.

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Ginobili now works as a part of the Spurs front office, after retiring in 2017.