Manu Ginóbili

Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, ; born 28 July 1977 ) is an Argentine former professional basketball player.

Widely credited for changing the game of basketball by popularizing the Euro step move in the NBA, he is regarded as one of the greatest shooting guards and sixth men in the league's history and as the greatest Latin American player of all time.

Ginóbili made his professional debut in the Argentine basketball league for the Andino Sport Club of La Rioja in the 1995–96 season.

Ginóbili was traded to Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca in 1996.

He played with his hometown team until 1998.

Ginóbili went to Europe to spend the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons with Italian team Basket Viola Reggio Calabria.

Selected as the 57th overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, Ginóbili joined the Spurs in 2002 and soon became a key player for the team.

In 1999, he teamed with Brent Scott, Brian Oliver and Sydney Johnson to earn promotion from the Italian 2nd Division to the Italian 1st Division.

Ginóbili then entered the 1999 NBA draft and the San Antonio Spurs selected him late in the second round with the 57th overall pick.

However, he did not sign with the Spurs at this point.

He was also named the Italian League MVP in 2000–01 and 2001–02, and made the Italian League's All-Star Game three times during this period.

His stint with Italian club Kinder Bologna was particularly successful; he won two Italian League MVP awards, the EuroLeague Finals MVP, and the 2001 EuroLeague championship and Triple Crown.

Instead, he returned to Italy to play for Kinder Bologna, which he helped win the 2001 Italian League Championship, the 2001 and 2002 Italian Cups, and the 2001 EuroLeague, where he was named the 2001 EuroLeague's Finals MVP.

While playing with the Argentina national team at the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis, Ginóbili made the All-Tournament Team, alongside future NBA star Yao Ming and established NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojaković, and helped lead Argentina to a second-place finish.

His oldest brother, Leandro, retired in 2003 after seven years in the Argentine basketball league, while brother Sebastián has played in both the Argentine local league and in the Spanish 2nd-tier level Liga Española de Baloncesto.

Their father Jorge was a coach at a club in Bahía Blanca, Argentina, where Ginóbili learned to play the game.

Given the proliferation of basketball clubs in Bahía Blanca and his idolization of Michael Jordan, Ginóbili's love for basketball grew rapidly.

Ginóbili has dual citizenship in Argentina and Italy, thanks to his Marchesan descent.

He speaks Italian and English fluently in addition to his native Spanish.

In his free time, Ginóbili enjoys listening to Latin music, watching movies and traveling.

He notably led Argentina to a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.

Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with fellow Hall of Famer Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal.

A four-time NBA champion, Ginóbili was a member of the San Antonio Spurs for his entire 16-year NBA career.

Along with Spurs teammates Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, he was known as one of the "Big Three" during the Spurs' era of success.

During their playing years together, the Spurs became a "model franchise" for other NBA teams.

Since September 2021, Ginóbili had been appointed as special advisor to basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs.

Ginóbili comes from a family of professional basketball players.

He spent the early part of his career in Argentina and Italy, winning several individual and team honors.

In 2004, he married fellow Argentine Marianela Oroño.

In addition to his four NBA championships, Ginóbili was named an All-Star in 2005 and 2011 and was selected twice for the All-NBA Third Team.

In 2007–08, he was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year.

On 16 May 2010, his wife gave birth to twin boys, Dante and Nicola.

In the immediate aftermath of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Argentina in 2010, Ginóbili expressed his support for the bill, and added that while supportive of same-sex marriage, he did not "consider himself qualified" to speak about same-sex adoption.

He said that he would prefer to see a child being raised by two men or two women rather than to see that child in an orphanage.

On 21 April 2014, his wife gave birth to their third son, Luca.

Ginóbili announced his retirement from the NBA in August 2018.

In April 2022, he was announced as a first ballot inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Ginóbili comes from a family of basketball players.

In March 2020, Ginóbili also expressed support for gay people playing basketball and expressed hope that the issue of sexual orientation will no longer be important soon.

A documentary based on his life was directed by Rodolfo Lamboglia.