Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili officially cap their international stints at the 2016 Rio Olympics. (Photo : Getty Images/Doug Pensinger)
Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili played their last games for their respective countries at the 2016 Rio Olympics as they wind down their careers. Both are also teammates with the San Antonio Spurs and are also at the twilight of their tenures.
Tony Parker is 35 and could play a year or two more with the Spurs. All that will depend on his health, something that has prevented him from playing a full NBA season.
Parker had already hinted of possibly retiring from international competition as early as the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers held in Manila, Philippines, the Tiebreakter Times reported. The Spurs star guard already pondered on retiring back in 2013 when France won the 2013 Eurobasket championship.
But when word came out that the 2015 European Championship would be held in France, Parker wanted to be part of it and eventually end his career with one last Olympic stint.
For Ginobili, age is an obvious reason though his 20-years of representing Argentina is more than enough to consider, USA Today reported. Like Parker, he too has been plagued by injuries in the NBA but many believe that he will be eventually announcing his retirement.
Together with now-retired Tim Duncan, Parker and Ginobili form the Spurs’ ‘Big Three’. Both are still active though their presence is seen more as a transition as Gregg Popovich makes the hard transition of developing the next era of Spurs basketball.
Ginobili’s last game was precious. He was in a good position to end his international stint by helping Argentina repeat their 2002 World Championship and 2004 Athens Olympic conquest of the powerful USA quintet.
Unfortunately it was not meant to be. Despite having Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni, Argentina got routed by USA Basketball, 105-78, NBC reported. Ginobili didn’t have the same spring in his legs though Argentine fans could care less. In fact, Ginobili got the respect he deserved which was a proper send-off for the star guard.
With their international stints over, Parker and Ginobili will now focus on the NBA. They will still get the minutes though they may unsurprisingly be shortened. Either way, the two have already done everything in their careers as they enjoy the remaining years of competitive play.
Check out the video below covering Ginobili and Parker's last Olympic run.
