Ginobili writes about time he played his idol Jordan

Manu Ginobili was apparently feeling sentimental on his blog Monday, posting an account of the only time he played his idol, Michael Jordan.

The contest was played on New Year's Eve 2002, when Ginobili was a 25-year-old San Antonio Spurs rookie and Jordan was in his final season with the Washington Wizards.

"I played a minute! Not as bad as I thought!" Ginobili wrote after digging up the game's box score. "Besides, I even took a shot. Sweet, maybe it was a good shot, probably 'in and out,' then a good solid defensive play and that was it. But I wanted to know more, I wanted to challenge my brain so I went to explore the play by play."

That's when the reality hit the now-39-year-old Argentine.

"Bad news!! I actually played 5.2 seconds and I air-balled a 40 feet long three."

The box score really is a time warp. Players who saw minutes in that game include both of last season's NBA Finals coaches - Tyronn Lue and Steve Kerr - in addition to Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Charles Oakley, Christian Laettner, Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Hughes, Danny Ferry, and Kwame Brown.

While the Spurs would go on to win the NBA championship that year, Ginobili ultimately didn't break out truly until the 2004-05 season after leading Argentina to gold in the 2004 Olympics.