Has Manu Ginobili done enough to earn inclusion in the Basketball Hall of Fame?

By Neil Harrington

It’s the end of an era for the San Antonio Spurs, with Manu Ginobili hanging up his jersey after 16 NBA seasons — all in the Alamo City.

During his esteemed career with the Spurs, Manu Ginobili was part of four NBA title teams and boasts a long list of accolades to go with all of those championship rings.

Manu Ginobili is a champion in every way. pic.twitter.com/YmU4hzGWJ4

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 27, 2018

Not bad for the 57th overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft.

He was part of a three-headed monster that also included Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, establishing a unique brand of team basketball — in a sport that is all about the individual superstars.

The Spurs teams during Ginobili’s NBA career are Hall of Fame worthy, but, are his individual efforts elite enough to be considered among the all-time greats?

According to many in the Twitter Universe and across other social media platforms, Ginobili will undoubtedly join the best of the best in Springfield, Massachusettes.

First ballot hall of fame @manuginobili

— Kyle Inman (@DrHoopenstein) August 27, 2018

However, I feel he doesn’t deserve a place in the Basketball Hall of Fame based on his NBA accolades alone.

His 12.9 points per game, 3.8 assists per game, and 3.5 rebounds per game, along with an efficient 52 percent from the field, 37 percent from three, and 84.2 percent from the line are outstanding — but it’s not Hall of Fame worthy.

Ginobili’s (only) two All-Star appearances, along with a sub-par final few injury-plagued NBA seasons, will tremendously hurt his case.

The only shot Ginobili has of getting in is if the voters heavily weigh-in his International success.

During his career outside of the NBA, Ginobili won a EuroLeague title and a EuroLeague Finals MVP. Even more impressive than four NBA rings was his pivotal role in Argentina shocking the world, when his squad upset the heavily favored United States Men’s team in the gold medal game during the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Outside of that, Giniboli falls way short of Basketball Hall of Fame inclusion based on his NBA efforts alone. With a little help from his International days, maybe, just maybe that will boost his stock enough to get in — but it’s a long-shot.

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I’m rooting for the guy, with his toughness, grit, work ethic, and effort hard to go unnoticed. However, Ginobili does not belong among the best of the best.