Over the years the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has inducted several head scratching players of late. Yet former San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili being elected on the first ballot takes the cake as the worst move in its history.
The only thing Ginobili will ever get remembered for is ushering in the era of the flop in the National Basketball Association. Unfortunately that did not go away after he retired as James Harden and Chris Paul have taken it to another level on the offensive side of the basketball court.
Amazingly enough neither former NBA Commissioner David Stern and current the current one Adam Silver have come close to doing enough to get rid of the flopping.
Unfortunately for Ginobili it also overshadows his successful career internationally where he helped Argentina win a gold medal in 2004 and a bronze metal in 2008. Overall his statistics there weren’t exactly eye-popping either.
In seven international seasons he averaged 17.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.9 steals. Not exactly hall worthy numbers by any stretch of the imagination. During his NBA run, Ginobili 13.3 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals.
Yes Ginobili played an integral part for the Spurs in their championship runs and deserves the recognition from the franchise. At this point the basketball hall of fame has lost its credibility.
Ginobili doesn’t belong especially when there are better players than him that have yet to get inducted.