Manu Ginobili, who won four NBA titles with the San Antonio Spurs (2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014), was an All Star, won 72.1 percent of his games, won the Olympic gold medal with Argentina in 2004, says his career had more failures than triumphs.
While reflecting on defeat and failure in sport, the legendary Argentine player made it clear that “the triumphs are what garner attention, but I always say: I don’t know any athlete who has won more than he lost. There isn’t one”.
Ginobli used Michael Jordan as an example: “The best player in history, with six rings. The guy played 15 seasons and won six. He lost nine. And he didn’t go home happy, I guess”.
The Argentine added that “later you remember the victories and celebrate them and they put them on television, but there was still a lot of bitter moments.”
He noted that “every failure made Manu Ginobili. Since I was 15 years old, when I was left out of a national team in Baha [Baha Blanca, his hometown] because I was small, because there was another player who played better than me, and the coach didn’t choose me.
“For me it was like losing an NBA final at that moment. You’re 15 years old and it’s the most important thing that can happen to you.”
Hard setbacks in his career
Manu also suffered setbacks during his time with Kinder Bologna, with the Spurs, as well as the Argentine national team, such as falling short in the 2006 World Cup semifinals or the loss in the final to Serbia and Montenegro in the 2002 World Cup.
“All that shapes you, it creates a callus and then you learn and you understand that it is normal to lose more than to win. Look at the NBA: there are 30 teams and only one wins. It’s not normal to lose,” he concluded.
