SAN ANTONIO - Spurs fans have new hope. They have more faith than at any other time this season because of one guy: Manu Ginobili.
Manu has, by himself, given the Spurs a fighting chance in the playoffs. Call him their leader or the best player on the team, but don't call him the MVP.
“Yeah, I don't like it,” Manu told News 4 WOAI. “First of all because I don't deserve it at all. Of course I feel honored. Our fans, how they support me. How they respect me. But it's hard to go shoot free throws when they are chanting that and I'm not even close.”
Manu may not think of himself in the same category as Kobe or Lebron, but when you define "valuable," it's easy to see that the Spurs are a contender with him and perhaps a lottery team without him. The Spurs are 11-4 since Parker got hurt and Manu took over leadership of the team. Over that stretch he's averaging 25.5 points per game and 31 points versus playoff teams.
So now the Spurs front office has some very important decisions to make. Manu becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and will test free agency offers.
