According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, San Antonio Spurs lifer Manu Ginobili is "seriously considering" retiring from the NBA and plans to meet with coach Gregg Popovich in the coming days to discuss his future. Ginobili, 41, has one year left on his contract, worth $2.5 million.
Back in April, Ginobili discussed how he would approach his decision to return for a 17th NBA season or retire.
"As I've done it the last two or three seasons, I'll sit back, relax and, after two or three months, see if I feel retired or not," Ginobili said, per NBA.com. "I like to let it season a little bit, to see how I feel. Don't expect news until July, probably. I just don't know. I let a month, two months go by and see how I feel. I'm not the type of guy who makes decisions on the fly, and when you are upset, hurt or whatever."
The crafty lefty from Argentina averaged 8.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 20 minutes of action per night last season for the Spurs. He has spent each of his 16 NBA seasons in San Antonio since being drafted by the Spurs 57th overall in the 1999 NBA Draft. Ginobili starred in Europe before eventually coming to the United States for his rookie season in '02.
Over the course of his professional basketball career, Ginobili was named Euroleague MVP in 2001, won an Olympic gold medal with Argentina in 2004, earned NBA All-Star honors twice, and captured four NBA championships with the Spurs. Ginobili has played 1,057 regular season and 218 playoff games with the Spurs, ranking fifth all-time in Spurs' history in minutes played, fifth in points (14,043), fourth in assists (4,001) and first in steals (1392).
