After Manu Ginobili took it upon himself to announce he would be signing with the San Antonio Spurs for an additional two years, reporters searched for details. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported the 35 year old guard would make $14 million in those two seasons.
Offering Ginobili, who had arguably one of his worst performances of his career in the NBA Finals, $7 million a year seem to set some outrage in the San Antonio Spurs community. Many believed that Ginobili was over paid and the Spurs should have offered him less in order to get newer and younger players, such as Andrei Kirilenko or Monta Ellis.
But when you look at the teams (Rockets and Hawks) that showed interest in adding Manu to their club and their cap space, the Spurs had to act quickly and loudly. With former Spurs assistant coach Mike Budenholzer taking the head coaching position in Atlanta he would have had an upper hand over the Rockets should Manu have decided to leave San Antonio.
Giving Manu a contract worth $7 million a year was the right move. It showed him that San Antonio was serious about having him come back and it also fulfilled Manu’s wish of retiring with the Spurs.
At least that’s what some thought until another source, Mark Deeks, reported the contract was actually worth $14.5 million with a slight decrease in year two.
Manu Ginobili's new contract will pay him $14.5 million over the next two seasons.
— Mark Deeks (@MarkDeeksNBA) July 15, 2013
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After hearing about the newest dollar value of Manu’s contract I have the same opinion as the first one, it was all worth it.
Manu has been a huge factor for the Spurs over his career and yes people will say that was then and this is now but without Manu showing up in games that matter the most, most notably Game 5 of the NBA Finals, who knows where the Spurs would be. Of course you have the other two members of the big three, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker but Manu just brings them together.
After all is said and done and Manu Ginobili’s number is being put up in the AT&T Center no one will remember the extra half a million he was given in his last two years of play. What they will remember is his amazing play while in San Antonio, from his low minute games where he would come in and just begin a storm for the Spurs to his last second buzzer beaters. That’s what will be remembered of Manu Ginobili.
