Manu Ginobili cleared for practice but leg 'a work in progress'
Manu Ginobili still isn't happy about being kept from the FIBA World Cup by the San Antonio Spurs, but early reports about his current health status suggest it was the right call.
On Friday, Ginobili revealed that the stress fracture in his right fibula - which caused the Spurs to pause and saw them restrict Ginobili from Argentinian national team activities - is coming along but isn't quite where it needs to be.
Ginobili: I'm feeling well, I did MRI, CT scan and you can see improvement. I've been cleared to join the team, but it's a work in progess.
— Yannis Koutroupis (@YannisNBA) September 26, 2014
Head coach Gregg Popovich indicated that Ginobili has been practicing for about a week, though it's unclear where he would be if he had played through the injury in late August. Regardless, the 37-year-old Ginobili remains upset at the team's decision.
"I was hurt," Ginobili said Friday. "I understand why they did it, but I didn't like it. I was hurt and I'm still hurt."
That's really unfortunate, especially coming off an NBA championship, but the Spurs have eyes on repeating and had to do what they felt was best for the franchise. Last season, Ginobili averaged just 22.8 minutes over 68 games as the team continued to take the longview with player workloads.
They'll need a healthy Ginobili to keep the Spurs machine running effectively in a season in which just one roster spot has changed over. In other words, the Spurs couldn't afford the gamble.