San Antonio Spurs reserve Manu Ginobili has never had nor sought to be an NBA megastar. He's an under-the-radar great of the game, with four championships, two All-Star nods, and a Sixth Man of the Year win in 2008 on his portfolio.
Los Angeles Lakers sophomore guard D'Angelo Russell was driving the Ginobili bandwagon years and years ago when he first started competing. When he finally got to go head-to-head with the Argentinian legend during the 2015-16 campaign, he made sure not to squander an opportunity to tell someone he looked up to how cool that experience was for him.
"Man, it's a pleasure to be out here with you," Russell said at the time, according to ESPN's Baxter Holmes. "I was like, 'Damn,' because he was one of my favorite players growing up."
His older brother, Antonio Jr., was a huge fan of Kobe Bryant, like many of his generation were, although D'Angelo never shied away from his loyalty to Ginobili.
"He used to tell me that his favorite player was Manu Ginobili," Antonio Jr. said. "He always used to be like, 'Manu Ginobili, Manu Ginobili, Manu Ginobili.'"
What helped strengthen D'Angelo's admiration was how much of himself he saw in Ginobili when it came to their respective styles. As a left-handed guard with size, agility, and playmaking ability to boot, the connection was pure and seamless.
"See, it's different when you ask who your favorite player was. You can say those American guys who made their name, like Kobe and Allen Iverson and Shaq and all those types of guys," he said. "But I really look at it and say, if I could model my game after somebody (it would be Ginobili).
"You try to go to what you're accustomed to, and Manu was never as athletic, but he could really pass the ball. He could score the ball, and he was just so unpredictable, and he was a lefty, so he was a player that I really prided myself on being."
Of Ginobili's 934 career appearances, only 349 have come in the starting lineup. Being a second-unit player and to still have the success he's had and reputation he's built is something D'Angelo has tremendous respect for.
"When he gets in the gym, I don't know, he's always ready," he said. "It's hard to come off the bench and be ready all the time. He's always ready, and that's a skill."