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Although the NBA collectively treated the final games of his 2016-17 season as though he was finished, Manu Ginobili will apparently not be retiring, but will instead return to the San Antonio Spurs for at least one more year.
Manu Ginobili and the Spurs are finalizing details of his imminent return for a 16th NBA season, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 18, 2017
Which means the Man That Launched A Thousand Nicknames will be back to dazzle us with his brilliance again:
MANU! pic.twitter.com/L6IVoW2P3h
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 10, 2017
And so to celebrate this news, I remind you of this exquisite passage from The Pathology of Manu Ginobili, published on this site in 2009:
He'll attempt outlandish passes and impossible shot blocks; but allow me to suggest and believe he does it primarily for the same reason Einstein attempted to quantify the universe:
Because there is joy in the attempt. And because he thought he could.
He scrapes, claws, and tosses subtle elbows as he goes to the basket, yet he does it coldly, without aggression...
Manu Ginobili is entirely without swagger.
He does not strut. He does not preen. He is not there to put on a show. He does not react to hard fouls. He does not react to being booed. Manu Ginobili's performance may ebb and flow, reacting to his health, or to the situation, or to the quality of defender. But from game to game, the competitiveness never changes.
So, if you have time, go back and enjoy that piece again, or for the first time, and relax in the security of knowing that The Manu will be back for 2017-18.