Ginobili: Boos By Opposing Fans Ineffective

What is it about Manu Ginobili that brings out the worst behavior from opposing crowds such as in Phoenix? It’s not just in Phoenix either, many fans from arenas around the NBA consistently show contempt and disapproval for the Spurs’ superstar shooting guard. 

For example, in Thursday night’s game against Phoenix, Ginobili was instantly booed even before he reached the scorer’s table to check into the game.

Ginobili over the past year and a half has typically found himself coming off the bench into contests, usually with about six minutes remaining in the first and third quarters. This gives opposing team’s fans ample opportunity to show their ire for Manu. 

Ginobili gets booed just as frequently when the Spurs play the Utah Jazz, where he is often greeted with hostility in a city and state full of supposedly good-hearted, loving, faithful Mormons.

They simply don't like him there.

I’ve seen fans on TV at Energy Solutions Arena throw empty bottles in the direction Spurs after a heartbreaking defeat. There are other examples around the league that I don’t have the time to mention. 

Is it that he is so talented and gifted as a basketball player that he draws so much attention from the crowd? This is definitely the case, because there is no other reasonable explanation for such behavior from fans. 

In the case of the Phoenix Suns, Ginobili has on many occasions burned the Suns with his clutch play. During the 2007 Western Conference Semifinals against the Suns, Ginobili came up with huge buckets to knock the favored Suns out of the playoffs in Game six of that series. 

During that 2007 series with the Suns, many from Phoenix, i.e. former Head Coach Mike D’Antoni, thought the Spurs played dirty and were deemed as never before by fans as the “Bad Boys” in silver and black from San Antonio. But, Manu Ginobili is not a dirty player. So, it must be something else about Manu that sets him apart. 

Maybe it is due to the fact that he has displayed consistent excellence throughout his career. He has been instrumental in winning three NBA titles for the Spurs, and he played for a team that won the Euroleague Championship in 2000-01. In fact, he was the finals MVP during that championship series.

Ginobili has also won an Olympic Gold Medal for his home country, Argentina in 2004. Last year he won the NBA's sixth man of the year award. It’s quite an impressive resume.

It is not only Ginobili’s consistent excellence on the basketball court that makes him the total opposite of unsportsmanlike, but his efforts in his community make him a great person as well. 

Just during the first half of this season I have seen Manu several times covered by websites such as Spurs.com giving back to the San Antonio community. He has visited a Children’s Hospital in San Antonio where he and other Spurs spent time with sick children and posed for photos with the unfortunate kids.

Manu also spent time with schoolchildren in a small town outside San Antonio, leading a math competition there with young students. I am sure there are many other examples of Ginobili's leadership off the court as well. 

Perhaps Suns, Jazz, and other fans around the league should take a closer look at Manu and see him for who he genuinely is: an extremely motivated, highly skilled, intelligent, crafty, and intensely competitive professional basketball player who is extremely successful. 

Because of this success, I believe Manu draws envy from teams and fans that want what he has, which is consistent greatness. He wouldn’t get booed all the time or screamed at vehemently by fans while shooting free throws if he wasn’t so irritatingly good at what he does. 

Perhaps bitter fans feel Ginobili is a “flopper.” Granted, he “sells” his blocks very well. An element of acting is involved. But you go try playing on the basketball court and fall backwards so dramatically as critics of flopping insist and feel it is not fair play.

It’s just not a natural physical act to “flop,” backwards, sideways or otherwise unless there is at least some, and a lot of times plenty of physical contact from an opposing offensive player. 

Add to that the fact that Ginobili is a master at faking out defenders when he begins a shot, and then leans into the player while actually shooting the ball, thus drawing the foul. Opposing teams know Ginobili is extremely proficient at this move, and they can only shake their heads in frustration when he does it time and time again. 

I believe that Ginobili feeds off the boos and negative fan responses to his presence on the court. This, I am sure, makes him play harder, better, and makes his drive to win every game even stronger. His outstanding performances and numbers on the road indicate that this is likely the case. 

Although there are the boo’s coming from fans across the league, I have also very frequently seen Manu in pictures and on TV signing autographs and posing for pictures with not only fans from San Antonio, but from very warm and admiring fans in cities around the NBA. This indicates he is truly a tremendous talent and very popular.

So, with huge success, comes praise and respect by many fans, and contempt and anger from the other fans. One thing is certain though, both the cheers and the boos give Manu intense energy and motivation to continue to reach for the pinnacle of success at the highest level of basketball. 

Manu’s stats and the Spurs 114-104 victory against rival Phoenix Thursday night indicate that motivation must be drawn from the fiery Suns fans: 

30 points on 13 attempts

18-18 at the free throw line

Nine rebounds (one rebound away from a triple-double)

Three assists

I believe one can now say that the Manu of old is back.