Gregg Popovich jokes he'll use up Manu Ginobili 'like a bar of soap'
This NBA season marks the first that San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has not had the services of now-retired, future Hall of Fame big man Tim Duncan after their 19 seasons together. The 39-year-old Manu Ginobili has been a fixture in San Antonio nearly as long and played in almost 1,000 NBA games (987), but the Argentinian guard won't last forever, either.
Ginobili has said he won't make a decision about returning for the 2017-18 season until after this year is through. Until then, the mastermind coach is going to get everything out of Ginobili like he does all of his players -- figuratively and figuratively. Here's how Popovich put it (before the Spurs' crushing loss to the Warriors on Thursday night) when asked about the possibility that Ginobili retires, via the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald:
https://twitter.com/JMcDonald_SAEN/status/847235484011057152
Maybe that's why Ginobili is noncommittal about the next season. If he tips his hand, Pop might play him 35 minutes a game and turn him into a shriveled, toothpick-sized crisp of bar soap that gets crushed in the shower drain.
