{"id":210188,"date":"2025-08-03T06:16:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T06:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/210188\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T06:16:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T06:16:13","slug":"i-wouldve-loved-to-play-more-years-with-him-david-robinson-regrets-being-old-when-manu-ginobili-joined-the-spurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/210188\/","title":{"rendered":"“I would’ve loved to play more years with him” – David Robinson regrets being old when Manu Ginobili joined the Spurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I would’ve loved to play more years with him” – David Robinson regrets being old when Manu Ginobili joined the Spurs<\/a> originally appeared on Basketball Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n

David Robinson<\/a> anchored the San Antonio Spurs for years. So he was ecstatic to finally find a co-star in Tim Duncan. Later, the Spurs added more firepower to the team as they signed Tony Parker and\u00a0Manu Ginobili<\/a> out of Europe.<\/p>\n

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Ginobili was quick to make his presence on the court. He impressed Robinson with his skills and confidence as a player.<\/p>\n

Early on, Robinson already thought Ginobili had the makings of a future Spurs leader. But while this was a positive development, “The Admiral” admittedly felt bittersweet, as he was already in the twilight of his legendary career when Manu came in.<\/p>\n

“It was a blast. I mean, for me, unfortunately, I was kind of at the end of my career and he was just getting started,” Robinson said<\/a> of Ginobili. “So, I would have loved to play more years with him.”<\/p>\n

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“Getting to know him as a person and watching his style of play made me feel that this team is in really good hands,” he added of his former teammate. “I mean, obviously, Tim Duncan was already a great foundation, but if you added a Tony Parker or a Manu Ginobili, you know, I can retire feeling like, ‘Ok, this is gonna keep going for a while.'”<\/p>\n

Robinson also admired Manu off the court<\/p>\n

The Admiral only played with Ginobili during the European basketball star’s rookie season in the NBA. That year, Manu only averaged 7.6 points in 69 regular-season games and 9.4 points per outing during the playoffs.<\/p>\n

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Nevertheless, Robinson still recognized Ginobili’s impact on the team. As an explosive and relentless shooting guard, Argentian played a key role in the Spurs<\/a>‘ championship run in 2003.<\/p>\n

While Manu’s first year with the Spurs was already remarkable, Robinson’s admiration for him extended beyond the hardwood. For the Admiral, Ginobili also conducted himself as a true inspirational sports figure off the court.<\/p>\n

“Manu is a guy, worldwide\u2026 He’s a guy that you can look up to,” Robinson reflected. “He’s a guy that can be an example for you\u2026 I think, worldwide, Manu just became a great, great role model.”<\/p>\n

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Related: “Ain’t nobody doing that again” – Dominique Wilkins says LeBron James’ 20-year dominance will never be replicated<\/a><\/p>\n

Popovich also appreciated Manu<\/p>\n

Unlike other rookies, Ginobili had already developed a strong game and mentality when he made it to the NBA. At first, his guts and grit did not sit well with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Popovich learned to appreciate Ginobili’s game and character the way Robinson did. He realized that sometimes, the best way<\/a> to coach Manu was to not coach Manu.<\/p>\n

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“I was so frustrated that first year, waiting in the corner,” Ginobili once said. “I wanted the ball to make decisions. I was 25, and I wanted to take the world by storm. I thought I knew everything.”<\/p>\n

“You realized there was more positive than negative,” Popovich once said<\/a> of Manu. “He’s a freaking winner. I came to the conclusion that it had to be more his way than my way.”<\/p>\n

After winning his second championship with the Spurs in ’03, Robinson finally hung up his sneakers for good at age 37. Just as he envisioned it, Ginobili took off and became a key figure in the Spurs right after he left the team.<\/p>\n

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As he looked back, Robinson felt a sense of pride and joy, knowing he was right about Manu all along.<\/p>\n

Related: “A guy who has grown into superstardom” – David Robinson explains how Scottie Pippen grew into a true leader without Michael Jordan<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network<\/a> on Jul 31, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“I would’ve loved to play more years with him” – David Robinson regrets being old when Manu Ginobili…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,3382,3349,1537,6,969,474,4075,4074,534,2594,1674,2968],"class_list":{"0":"post-210188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio-spurs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-david-robinson","10":"tag-gregg-popovich","11":"tag-manu-ginobili","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-san-antonio","14":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","15":"tag-sanantonio","16":"tag-sanantoniospurs","17":"tag-spurs","18":"tag-the-spurs","19":"tag-tim-duncan","20":"tag-tony-parker"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114963374665181814","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}