Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Widely credited for changing the game of basketball by popularizing the Euro step move in the NBA, he is regarded as one of the greatest shooting guards and sixth men in the league's history and as the greatest Latin American player of all time. He notably led Argentina to a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players to have won a EuroLeague title, an NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal. A four-time NBA champion, Ginóbili was a member of the San Antonio Spurs for his entire 16-year NBA career. Along with Spurs teammates Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, he was known as one of the "Big Three" during the Spurs' era of success. During their playing years together, the Spurs became a "model franchise" for other NBA teams. Since September 2021, Ginóbili had been appointed as special advisor to basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs.
Ginóbili with the San Antonio Spurs in 2010
Ginóbili was drafted by the Spurs as the 57th pick (second to last) in the 1999 NBA draft.
Ginóbili met then-President of Argentina Néstor Kirchner following the 2005 NBA Finals.
Ginóbili in 2012
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop, while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.
Chris Dudley (#22), playing for the New Jersey Nets, squares off with Michael Jordan (#23), of the Chicago Bulls on March 28, 1991. Other players including Chicago's Bill Cartwright (#24) are present on the court.
James Naismith c. 1920
The first basketball court: Springfield College
The 1899 University of Kansas basketball team, with James Naismith at the back, right