Manu Ginobili only has one year remaining on his current contract, after which he'll be 38 years old and through 13 NBA seasons, but the Argentinian hasn't made any plans beyond that, and he certainly isn't hinting at retirement just yet.
"I don’t like to speculate as to when it’s going to end. I know I’ll play the upcoming season. If I feel like I did this past season, I’ll keep going for sure. If I feel like I did the season before, I don’t know," Ginobili told Argentine newspaper La Cancha, via Pounding The Rock.
"More than age, what matters the most is my health and the mental aspect. Basketball-wise, I’m in a perfect situation," Ginobili added. "I’m with a team that takes great care of me, in which I have my role and I’m not asked to do too much. I’m a leader to my teammates. And I feel respected enough to not have to prove myself every day. So if I feel like I did last season, I’ll keep playing."
It was during that same interview with La Cancha that Ginobili said there is "a 98 per cent chance" that he will never play international basketball for Argentina again.
Ginobili is currently recovering from a stress fracture in his right leg and the Spurs would not allow him to participate in next month's FIBA World Cup, an option NBA teams have when there are health and injury concerns with a player.
After saying he would have considered asking FIBA for a mediator if he felt ready to play, Ginobili added:
"But when the moment came to start playing and doing impact workouts, the pain was still there. I know myself, this is the third time this has happened to me. I know that when the pain starts, it doesn't stop; taking a day off wasn't going to solve it. The bone has to heal and it hadn't or something else was wrong. During the first training session in which I felt pain, I knew there was no way I could play."
Ginobili is expected to be ready for the NBA season, when questions will quickly turn to whether he feels well enough to pursue a 14th season in the Association.
