Manu Ginobili has played his last game for his native Argentina. At least that’s what the San Antonio Spurs guard told the Buenos Aires daily La Nacion on Saturday. The Spurs guard and four-time NBA champion, was set to play for Argentina in the FIBA World Cup later this month, but will now be missing the tournament do to an injury.
The NBA has an agreement with FIBA, which only allows teams to stop their players from competing for their national team unless there’s “reasonable medical concern.” Otherwise, the decision to play or not is entirely at the prerogative of the player.
The Spurs chose to invoke the clause in order to prohibit Ginobli from playing for Argentina due to the lingering effects of a stress fracture in his right leg. With the Spurs set to defend their title starting in October, there’s reason to believe that the team made the right choice protecting their aging star.
“Today, I can say for almost certain, 98%, that I won’t play any more (for Argentina). he said in his interview. “If I’d played this tournament it would have been the last, that’s for sure it’s hard and it always will be to retire from this (Argentina) team.”
Ginobli was a member of Argentina’s golden generation in international basketball. Ginobli led the team to a Gold medal in the 2004 Olympics, a bronze in 2008, and a Silver medal in the 2002 FIBA World Cup in Indianapolis.
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