Manu Ginobili returns to San Antonio Spurs in front-office role
Three years after his retirement as a player, San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili will join their front office as a special adviser to basketball operations, the team announced in a news release on Friday.
Ginobili will work in a player development role both on and off the court, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 44-year-old won four championships with the Spurs alongside Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. He was a two-time All-NBA selection and the 2008 Sixth Man of the Year. Duncan served as an assistant coach under San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich during the 2019-20 season. He did not return to the bench last season.
Ginobili is also considered one of the greatest international players in basketball history, winning a EuroLeague championship as the MVP and leading Argentina to a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Sixteen of the 19 Spurs players under contract entering next week's training camp have five years of NBA experience or fewer. Rotational contributors Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson, Lonnie Walker and Devin Vassell were all under the age of 25 last season. Free-agent acquisition Zach Collins is still just 23 years old, and 18-year-old lottery pick Joshua Primo was the youngest player selected in the draft this past July.
Following this season, Ginobili will become eligible for the Hall of Fame as a player.
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
