Manu Ginobili ranked 41st best player in the NBA by SI

In this year's edition of SI's Top 100 NBA Players, Manu Ginobili is bumped up from the 56^th to 41^st best player in the league.

Of course, the move upward can easily be seen with his performance in the postseason on the way to Spurs title No. 5, and his rebound from a dreadful 2013 Finals series. Seeing as this is a list of players for the 2014-15 season, it's also understandable that he stays outside the top 40 because of his age and expectations to average the fewest amount of minutes since perhaps his rookie year (20.7 minutes per game).

Despite not playing as much as the other top shooting guards, what separates Manu from the rest, and could be the argument for 41^st being too low, is his efficiency. To say he makes the most of his minutes isn't the usual worn-out saying you hear from teams across all sports. His PER of 20 ranked third among shooting guards last year and had the best plus-minus rating on the team in his 22.8 minutes per game.

Manu revealed at Media Day that while he's cleared for full contact, he's not ready for a full length of practice and is slowly progressing to a no-minute limit. After his fractured leg forced him to sit out of the FIBA World Cup, the 37-year-old should be under perhaps the most careful monitoring of any player on the team this coming season.

With retirement looming, is this the highest we'll ever see Ginobili ranked on this list? Every year that passes essentially means fewer minutes and closer attention to his health.