San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili apparently is not ready to end his basketball career.
In a piece he penned for an Argentinian newspaper, the 35-year-old veteran expressed his desire to play in the NBA for at least one more season. Ginobili and the Spurs fell short of a championship this season, losing in seven games to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals that ended last week.
“After much thinking, going over and over the bad plays, I feel better and content in spite of the bad outcome, and I find it difficult to believe that I won’t play anymore,” he wrote in ‘La Nación.’ “I don’t feel exhausted or frustrated playing basketball,
“I mean not enough to say I’m done. I don’t know about everything; I haven’t made a decision, but I see it is unlikely that I will not play anymore.
“I try not to let the tree in front of me block the forest. This is practically an unbeatable situation in sports. A moment of anger and frustration should not cloud the day-to-day and how well I am doing over here. I think they want me here again, but (according to NBA rules) I’m not certain because I still can’t talk to the franchise.”
Ginobili becomes an unrestricted free agent on Monday. He made $14.1 million in the final year of his contract this season.
On the court, Ginobili’s production was down. He scored 11.8 points per game off the bench as the Spurs’ sixth man during the regular season, his lowest average since his second year in the NBA.