Manu Ginobili seemed to be moving just fine during the NBA Finals — he had 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the closeout Game 5 — and not long after the season ended he committed to play for his native Argentina in the World Cup this summer.
But he apparently was doing that with a stress fracture in his right leg, one just diagnosed that likely will keep him out of the World Cup this summer, reports Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports.Ginobili, 36, was diagnosed with the early stages of a stress fracture in his exit physical with the Spurs. It’s an injury that appears to have developed late in San Antonio’s championship season, sources told Yahoo Sports.
Ginobili is seeking a second medical opinion before proceeding, sources said.
The Spurs had their exit physicals on June 17 and three days later he was talking about playing for Argentina, so this was unexpected.
The recovery time for this kind of injury is expected to be two months, which could have him back in time for the World Cup if he pushed, but that/s not really the Spurs way. Gregg Popovich and everyone else will pressure him to take the summer off. Rest and recover.
Last season he averaged an efficient 12.3 points a game (true shooting percentage of .590 and a PER of 20) in 68 games, mostly off the bench.
After two straight trips to the Finals, the Spurs are getting the band back together for one more year and are the bar to clear for all the other teams that fancy themselves contenders in the West.
