Tag Archives: Tim Duncan

Carmelo Anthony Moves Into Top 10 on NBA All-Time Scoring List

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Carmelo Anthony is movin’ on up…

The 36-year-old Puerto Rican professional basketball player, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, has moved into the top 10 all time in NBA scoring, passing Elvin Hayes.

Carmelo Anthony

With 11:09 left in the second quarter against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, Anthony isolated on the right wing and pulled up from 3, plus the foul. After his trademark move of hitting the side of his head with three fingers, Anthony raised both arms in the air as a quick acknowledgement of the accomplishment.

It was his third 3 of the first half, giving him 12 points. Anthony entered Monday’s game against the Hawks nine points behind Hayes’ career total of 27,313.

He finished the night with 14 points overall — and 27,318 for his career — as Portland fell to Atlanta, 123-114.

“I think after it’s done, whenever it happens, I think I’ll be more in awe of it,” Anthony told ESPN by phone last week. “This is something I never, ever thought about. When you’re young you look up at that list and you’re like, ‘Damn, so-and-so has that many points? I’ll never be able to do that.’ I’m more just in awe of it.”

Moses Malone is next up on the all-time list at 27,409, a reachable number this season if Anthony maintains his current scoring pace.

Anthony’s journey to the top 10 comes with context, with him away from the NBA for a season after being cut by the Houston Rockets after just 10 games early in the 2018-19 season. Anthony continued working out and signed with the Trail Blazers in November 2019, starting all 58 games last season. He agreed to a bench role this season with Portland and entered Monday averaging 13.6 points as a sixth man.

A 10-time NBA All-Star, Anthony is in his 18th NBA season. He won the scoring title with the New York Knicks in 2012-13, averaging 28.7 points. Anthony spent 10 consecutive seasons in the top 10 in scoring and finished as a runner-up for the scoring title twice in that stretch.

Anthony’s point distribution is 13,970 in eight seasons with the Denver Nuggets, 10,186 in seven seasons with the Knicks, 1,261 in one season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, 134 with the Rockets and now 1,754 in two seasons with the Blazers.

This season, Anthony has moved past Tim Duncan, Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson and Hakeem Olajuwon in scoring.

San Antonio Spurs Star Manu Ginobili Retires from the NBA

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The time clock has run down for Manu Ginobili…

The 41-year-old Argentine professional basketball player, a guard with the San Antonio Spurs since the 2002-2003 NBA season,announced Monday that he’s retiring.

Manu Ginobili

“Today, with a wide range of feelings, I’m announcing my retirement from basketball,” he announced in a tweet. “It’s been a fabulous journey. Way beyond my wildest dreams.”

Ginobili, a future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, had been working out regularly at the Spurs’ practice facility as he considered his decision to retire.

The Spurs had been hopeful that Ginobili would want to return for a 17th season and allowed him to take all the time he needed to decide, league sources had told ESPN. The team thanked Ginobili in a tweet and video Monday.

His decision brings a historic 16-season run with the Spurs to an end. He is one of the most decorated international players in basketball history, a four-time NBA champion, a two-time NBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist for Argentina and a EuroLeague MVP.

“An NBA champion and All-Star, Manu Ginobili is also a pioneer who helped globalize the NBA,” NBA commissioner Adam Silversaid. “He is one of basketball’s greatest ambassadors who believes in the power of sports to change lives. And for 16 years, we were fortunate to watch a legend compete at the highest level. Thank you, Manu, for a career that inspired millions of people around the world.”

Ginobili played 1,057 regular-season and 218 playoff games with the Spurs, ranking in the franchise’s top five all time in games, points (14,043), assists (4,001) and steals (1,392). He averaged 8.9 points and 20 minutes a game for the Spurs last season.

“A role model for all of us that love this wonderful sport,” Spurs forward Pau Gasol said.

Ginobili’s pro career lasted 23 seasons in all, starting with stints in Italy and Argentina. His drawing power was massive even in his final season, and it was common for him to spend plenty of time before road games posing for photos and signing autographs — often international fans proudly displaying an Argentine flag.

“He has the talent to continue playing for five years, but we have to respect his decision. Us Argentinians, we are so proud of him. We wish all the best in the new life,” said Juan Martin del Potro, who thanked Ginobili after his victory Monday at the US Open.

Ginobili had one year left on his contract, worth $2.5 million.

The smooth left-handed guard from Argentina came to San Antonio in 2002, forming what quickly became a powerful big three alongside Tim Duncanand Tony Parker. Now, they’ve all moved on: Duncan retired two years ago, Parker left San Antonio earlier this summer as a free agent to sign with the Charlotte Hornets, and Ginobili has worn Spurs colors for the last time as well.

“I had left the door open just in case, but now I am convinced and happy about the decision I made,” Ginobili said, as quoted in Argentina newspaper La Nacion.

Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard were the backbone of San Antonio’s drive to its most recent NBA championship in 2014, and this will be the first time Gregg Popovichbegins a season as the Spurs’ head coach with none of those players on the roster. Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptorsfor DeMar DeRozan earlier this summer, the end of a relationship in San Antonio that had apparently gone too sour to save.

Leonard’s departure meant Ginobili would have been the last significant player tied to the Spurs’ title years. But in the end, retirement was his call.

Ginobili, even though he was often coming off the bench, has a résumé of postseason production like almost no one else. Only two players have more than 800 rebounds, 800 assists and 300 3-pointers in their playoff careers — Ginobili and LeBron James.

Ginobili’s final game was April 24, when the Spurs were ousted from the Western Conference playoffs by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors. San Antonio lost the series 4-1.

Ginobili Returning for 14th Season with the San Antonio Spurs

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The Spurs the limit for Manu Ginobili…

The 37-year-old Argentine player will return another season with the San Antonio Spurs, announcing his decision in a tweet Monday.

Manu Ginobili

“Happy to announce that I’m coming back next season. #gospursgo #TDwouldvemissedmetoomuch,” tweeted Ginobili, considered one of the finest international players to grace the NBA.

Ginobili had said Tim Duncan‘s decision would affect whether he returned for the upcoming season. Duncan announced Thursday that he would return for his 19th season.

The Spurs were determined to convince Ginobili to play one more season after agreeing to terms with LaMarcus Aldridge, sources told ESPN.com. The Spurs remained quietly optimistic that Ginobili would ultimately opt to come back.

While Ginobili appears to be on the decline statistically, coach Gregg Popovich still wanted to bring him back for a 14th season with the Spurs, as Ginobili’s experience and intangibles make him an important piece as the club tries to make a run at a second championship in three years.

Ginobili, a two-time NBA All-Star and Sixth Man of the Year, had pondered retirement since San Antonio’s season ended with a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7 of the Western Conference first round.

In 2014-15, Ginobili turned over the ball five times per 100 possessions, which registered as a career high. In the postseason series against Los Angeles, Ginobili connected on just 34.9 percent of his shots, the worst playoff field goal percentage of his career.

Ginobili has averaged 14.3 points throughout his career in the regular season and 15.2 points per game in the postseason.

Ginobili Propels the San Antonio Spurs to Victory in Game Five of the NBA Finals

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Manu Ginobili is back… in a big way… to help propel the San Antonio Spurs to victory.

The 35-year-old Argentinian professional basketball player broke out of a recent slump with a whopping 24 points and 10 assists in his first start of the season, leading the Spurs past the Miami Heat 114-104 to take a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals.

Manu Ginobili

Ginobili had his highest-scoring game of the season as the Spurs became the first team to shoot 60 percent in a finals game in four years.

“He’s such a huge part of what we do and how far we’ve come. You can see it tonight in how we played and the results of the game,” said teammate Tim Duncan, who added 17 points and 12 rebounds to the team’s tally. “We’re always confident in him. … We know he has it in him. We hope he can bring it forward for one more win.”

The stage was set from the get-go when Ginobili ran out with Duncan, Tony Parker and the rest of the Spurs’ starters.

One more victory and the Spurs’ Big Three, not Miami’s, will be the team that takes home the championship trophy.

Manu Ginobili

And a big reason was the exceptional play by Ginobili, following what had been a miserable series for the former Sixth Man of the Year.

“I was angry, disappointed,” Ginobili said.

“We are playing in the NBA Finals, we were 2-2, and I felt I still wasn’t really helping the team that much,” Ginobili said. “And that was the frustrating part.”

Ginobili had been averaging just 7.5 points on 34.5 percent shooting in the series, making only three of his 16 3-point attempts. But Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich made the Finals’ second lineup change in two games, after the Heat inserted Mike Miller to start Game 4.

Ginobili didn’t make a start this season and certainly hadn’t been playing like someone who belonged with the first five. But in the Spurs’ biggest game of the season, they remained confident he would break out, and they were right.

“I knew that I was not scoring much and I felt it in the air. But I tried not to care about it. I know I’m critical enough of myself to be worrying about what other people say,” Ginobili said.

It was the first time he scored 24 or more points since having 34 on June 4, 2012, against Oklahoma City, according to STATS.

Ginobili and his Spurs teammates now need only one win to clinch San Antonio’s fifth NBA championship.