“I have turned into part of two very symbolic teams in these two decades, in both FIBA ​​and NBA. I have been incredibly fortunate to be a part of both teams.”

Ginobili will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the 2022 class, becoming the third South American with a plate in the Eternal Basketball Hall.

“One more thing you never dreamed of is when you start biting an orange ball! Thank you to everyone who accompanied me on this path!” Ginóbili wrote on his Twitter account.

The Argentine shooting guard will be recruited after his first year of eligibility. He retired in 2018 after playing his entire NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs, as well as being an Olympic champion with his team at the 2014 Athens Games.

“I was part of two great teams. If it wasn’t for me being part of these two teams, I wouldn’t be here,” Ginobili said. “It’s not just about individual achievements. I’ve never won a scoring championship, MVP, or even created an NBA All-Star Team. I’m here for those who surrounded me, for the people I played with, for the technicians who directed me and for the organizations I’ve been in. I know I’ve been very lucky.”

Ginobili joins Brazilians Oscar Schmidt and Operatan Pereira as a South American trio in the Springfield, Massachusetts-based Hall of Fame.

Born in Bahía Blanca, Ginobili spent seven seasons as a professional in Argentina and Italy before joining Tottenham in 2002 after being the 57th selection in the 1999 draft.

Under coach Greg Popovich from start to finish, Ginobili was a four-time champion and two-time All-Star. He did so as part of the “Big Three” in San Antonio, with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. He won the NBA Man of the Year award in 2008.

Ginobili made his mark in the NBA with his shot from the ocean and in a very aggressive style, where he dived fearlessly to get the balls back.

He also popularized the “Euro step”, the movement in which he began to break through the hoop, taking a step to one side and a second to the other to change direction. The maneuver was a league classic, emulated by stars like James Harden and Dwyane Wade.

Ginobili appeared on the international scene at the World Cup in Indianapolis in 2002. During the second stage of the tournament, Argentina became the first team to defeat the United States in the NBA and went on to win the silver medal. When he fell to Yugoslavia, in the final Ginobili could not play due to an ankle injury.

But the peak moment would come in 2004, with an unforgettable achievement at the Olympic Games in Athens.

With a 29-point lead from Ginobili, the Argentines beat the United States 89-81 in the semifinals, a team that had dedicated stars such as Duncan, Allen Iverson and others who made appearances such as LeBron James, Wade and Carmelo Anthony.

Once in the final, Ginobili and his comrades beat Italy for the gold medal. They also won the bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and then placed fourth in London 2012.

Ginobili was the great reference for the Argentine “golden generation”, accompanied by Luis Scola, Andrés Nocioni, Fabricio Uberto, Carlos Delfino, Pablo Prigioni and Walter Hermann.

Tim Hardaway, another former NBA player, was among five Hall of Fame volunteers announced Saturday at the college’s Final Four basketball court.

Former WNBA Champion and two-time College National Champion Swain Cash also joined; former NBA coach George Carle; College coach Bob Huggins. WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Wallen; Former College Coach and Coach of the Year Marian Stanley; and former NBA referee Hugh Evans.

Hardaway played 15 seasons in the NBA and was named to the All-Star Game five times in the 1990s.

Cash, who has already been inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, is currently the manager of the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA. He won two college national titles with Connecticut and a WNBA title with Detroit. She was also the director of WNBA’s New York Liberty.

Karl played five seasons in San Antonio and then coached for 27 years, winning 1,175 games to finish sixth all-time. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2013.

Huggins has racked up more than 900 wins in his college coaching career that began in 1977 and now continues at West Virginia.

Whalen has appeared in five NBA All-Star games and has been a four-time champion. She is currently working as a coach for Minnesota, a college team she has also played for.

Stanley, currently the head coach of the WNBA for Indiana State, has 45 years in the business, 22 of which are in college basketball with Old Dominion, Pennsylvania, Southern California, Stanford and California. She is the 2022 WNBA Coach of the Year and inducted this year into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

Evans refereed more than 1,900 regular season games, 170 playoffs, 35 NBA Finals, and four All-Star games from 1973 to 2001. He was an assistant supervisor for NBA officials for three years.

The glorification ceremony will be held on September 10.