Name: Emmanuel David “Manu” Ginobili

Team: San Antonio Spurs

Position: Shooting Guard

NBA Statistics: 15.8 (points), 4.8 (assists), 3.8 (rebounds)

Background: While acknowledged today as one of the greatest international players to ever grace the hard court of an NBA arena, “Manu” Ginobili has an illustrious career, spanning various leagues around the world.

After making his professional debut with La Roja in Argentina in 1995, he chose to move to Italy in 1998 and expand his professional accreditation. His initial stint in Italy did not last long and when he made himself eligible for the NBA draft, he was selected as the 57th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in 1999. Opting not to sign with the Spurs right away, Manu returned to Italy to play for the Kinder Bologna in a quest to further harness his skills. This seemed to be the right move for the Argentine as he claimed the Italian Championship, two Italian Cups, the MVP Award in the 2001 Euroleague, which his team won, in addition to two league MVP titles in 2001 and 2002.

He finally signed with the Spurs in 2002, and this season saw the making of the Argentine basketball legend. After a series of injuries, Manu recovered to lead the Spurs to NBA supremacy. The Spurs powered past powerhouses inclusive of defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Phoenix Suns, the Dallas Mavericks and the then Jason Kidd-led New Jersey Nets.

He has continued to be an integral member of the Spurs line-up and was a key member of the Spurs when they won NBA in 2005 and 2007.

A key point to note about this phenomenon is that he is the only player other than Bill Bradley to have won an Olympic gold medal, a Euroleague and on NBA title.