Ginobili goes down — how long until he goes?
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/buck_harvey/Ginobili_goes_down__how_long_until_he_goes.html
Buck Harvey - BEIJING — The Spurs had no choice. They had to go along with Manu Ginobili.
They had to say, yes, we trust you. They had to accept that the same Ginobili they love in tense moments is the same Ginobili who will sacrifice everything to play with his Argentine buddies.
They had no choice but to allow Ginobili to do what he shouldn't have done.
Now?
It will be the Spurs' choice.
Today, with an ice pack on his notorious left ankle, Ginobili would do it all over again. To defend his gold medal against the Americans, with Maradona in the stands, Ginobili would have played in Beijing if he had to be propped up with chopsticks.
“I don't forget that eight years ago we were fighting for eighth place in the World Championships,” he wrote on his Web site this week, “and did not make the Olympics at all.”
He built an international power, and the sea change came in Indianapolis in the 2002 World Championships. Then, just before he joined the Spurs, he and Argentina became the first to beat a U.S. team consisting of NBA players.
That tournament also introduced what would become Ginobili's weakness. He severely sprained his left ankle for the first time, and what followed was telling. Ginobili hobbled out for the gold-medal game.
Argentina doctors should have stopped him, and some within the Spurs organization wonder if this decision haunts Ginobili still. Other bruises have come and gone for El Contusion; this one is as fresh as ever.
When he collapsed here, there was nothing traumatic about it. He drove, LeBron James cut him off and he passed while landing. Athletes with pre-existing injuries get hurt this way.
Ginobili stayed on the floor for a few minutes, then limped to the bench where he removed his left sneaker. He held his ankle with both hands, as if that would relieve the pain.
Within minutes he was in the locker room, never to return. And after the game, without knowing the injury report, the Argentina coach didn't count out Ginobili for the bronze-medal game. He was as optimistic as the Argentines were in Indianapolis in 2002.
The ankle bothered Ginobili in his rookie year, and it sure did last season. It may have cost the Spurs a championship, too. Given that, he owed it to his employer to rest. There's some loyalty that comes with a $10 million annual salary.
In mid-June Ginobili was leaning that way. “The ankle injury is worse than I thought,” he admitted to reporters in Argentina.
Gregg Popovich saw a crack and went public. “My concern,” he said then, “is that it is going to get worse. He's got to seriously consider his health.”
Ginobili flew back to San Antonio shortly after for another injection, but he began to talk about playing again. When Argentina announced Ginobili would carry the flag for the opening ceremonies in Beijing, that cinched it.
Popovich knew he had lost. All he could do was send a trainer to Buenos Aires to monitor Ginobili's workouts with the national team.
Now Popovich is waiting for the medical reports, and he and his staff are anxious. One source said this last summer: If the shot Ginobili received in June didn't take, and if he played and re-injured the ankle, he might need surgery.
Ginobili just turned 31. With or without surgery, how long can he be effective?
Ginobili's contract is up in two years. The Spurs have already discussed an extension, and now they have another reason to wait a year before making a decision. There's no rush.
But Ginobili's fragile status will be part of the equation. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker will be the only Spurs under contract in 2010, not counting Ian Mahinmi's minimum deal. That means there's a lot of cap room.
An NFL team wouldn't hesitate. They'd cut the aging, limping player and find someone else.
But finding another Ginobili is impossible. He's been the Spurs' most popular and most fearless.
Still, his style was always going to burn out early, and that's why this summer could be another sea change. Ginobili risked everything when he came to Beijing, and he lost.
He chose, and he was wrong. And now it is someone else's turn to choose.
