Every offseason brings the same ritual: fresh rankings, new all-time lists, and the usual debate that comes with trying to fill the basketball void. HoopsHype’s latest hierarchy landed, and once again Manu Ginobili was left off the board.
That omission says as much about Ginobili’s career as it does about the list itself. He spent his years in San Antonio giving up individual shine for team success, and he did it willingly.
The Spurs benefited from that choice. The question now is whether Dylan Harper should be asked to make the same kind of long-term tradeoff.
Ginobili arrived in the league at 25 as a late second-round pick, with no real guarantees waiting for him. He wasn’t handed a starring role, but he did start at times - 38 of a possible 77 games in his second season, then 74 out of 74 in his third.
Even so, when Gregg Popovich asked him to move to the bench, Ginobili accepted it. He could have pushed back.
Instead, he trusted the coaching staff and became one of the best sixth men the game has ever seen.
That decision came with rewards, including championships. It also came with a cost.
Every other Spurs legend on HoopsHype’s all-time list made the cut: George Gervin, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Kawhi Leonard. Ginobili showed up only in the added notes, among players who got votes but not enough to crack the top 80.
For a player of his caliber, that’s a hard omission to swallow.
Still, Ginobili’s path was his own. What made sense for him doesn’t automatically make sense for Harper.
San Antonio didn’t know it would land the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft when it traded for De’Aaron Fox, though even with hindsight, it’s not clear the Spurs would have backed away from the deal. They’re coming off a trip to the NBA Finals, and that kind of opportunity doesn’t come with guarantees. Fox is already established, and Stephon Castle needs touches too, so there’s a real basketball case for Harper to begin his career in a reserve role.
There’s also a developmental upside. Harper can learn in meaningful games without having to run the entire offense from day one.
That matters. If he spends his second season helping San Antonio win while embracing a sixth-man role, that should be fine.
But there’s a line the Spurs shouldn’t cross. Harper wasn’t drafted 57th, and he wasn’t some overlooked international veteran trying to carve out a place.
He went No. 2 because the franchise sees him as a future face of the team. That kind of talent should not be asked to surrender recognition forever.
Ginobili’s sacrifice helped define an era in San Antonio, and Spurs fans know it. He’ll always be loved there for it.
But one Ginobili is enough. Harper should get the chance to build a legacy that lives on in banners and on those same all-time lists.
In Other News...
Tim Duncan Vs Steph Curry Should Not Even Be A Debate
The Tim Duncan-Steph Curry comparison always starts with style, because the two stars helped define very different eras of basketball. Duncan was the steady force of the Spurs machine, a two-way anchor whose presence translated into year-after-year contention and a trophy case filled with Finals hardware. Curry, meanwhile, changed the geometry of the game with his shooting and pushed the Warriors into a new offensive age, building a legacy that is just as unmistakable even if it looks nothing like Duncans.
Still, the debate gets sharper when the conversation turns from aesthetics to rsum. Duncans case is rooted in consistency, playoff reliability and the kind of championship equity that comes from being the constant in every run, while Currys case leans on revolutionary impact and the way his titles were shaped by a roster that kept evolving around him. For Spurs fans, the appeal is obvious: Duncans greatness never needed asterisk management, and that is exactly why this argument keeps circling back to him. [Read more 🡒]
Stephon Castle Looks Like A Spurs Cornerstone But One Debate Remains
Stephon Castle spent his first full run with the Spurs looking every bit like a player the franchise can build around. In 68 regular-season games, he was in the starting lineup almost every night, then carried that same role into the postseason while keeping his all-around production steady and his scoring on the rise.
The part that still hangs over his breakout is less about talent than control. Castles turnover total was a real issue, and the Spurs know that if he is going to keep growing as a lead option, his ball-handling has to become cleaner and more reliable. [Read more 🡒]
Bleacher Report Just Validated What Spurs Fans Always Knew About Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan has always been the kind of player Spurs fans appreciated in the way only they could, with the quiet certainty that his value went far beyond the box score. Bleacher Reports latest defensive ranking only adds another layer to that long-held view, placing Duncan near the top of the all-time list and reinforcing the idea that his best work in San Antonio was often felt more than it was celebrated.
What makes the case even stronger is how complete Duncans defensive rsum really was across his 19-year career. He never won Defensive Player of the Year, yet he still set an NBA record with 15 All-Defensive First Team selections, a reminder that his impact on the Spurs identity was as foundational as his offense and maybe even more underrated than his reputation as a top-10 player suggests. [Read more 🡒]