The San Antonio Spurs trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker was one of the most iconic Big 3's the league has ever seen. However, as it turns out, the trifecta did not exactly start on the best of terms.
According to Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, Duncan was actually a bit skeptical of Ginobili when the Spurs drafted the 6-foot-6 shooting guard in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft.
“Timmy still hadn’t seen him,” Popovich said, via Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News. “He said, ‘Oh yeah. Sure. I’ll believe it when I see it.’”
Ginobili was dealing with a lingering ankle issue during his rookie year, which prevented him from showcasing his true potential during his first few months in the league. However, when the then 25-year-old Argentenian was able to finally put the injury behind him, he was able to erase any doubt the Spurs — and Duncan in particular — had towards his abilities.
“Timmy figured it out real quickly in January when he started playing for us,” Popovich said. “By then we knew he was a damn good player. We didn’t know he was going to be what he ended up, but we knew he was a damn good player.”
And the rest, as they say, is history. As we all know, Ginobili would play a pivotal role in the most successful era of the organization. He would go on and win four NBA titles with the Spurs in his 16-year tenure with the squad, and this is the very reason why the Spurs will be retiring his No. 20 jersey on Thursday night.
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