Manu Ginobili doesn’t want to hang up his sneakers yet, and he’s returning to the San Antonio Spurs on a two-year deal. 

Sham Charania of The Vertical broke the news of Ginobili’s signing, which is reportedly worth $5 million in total. Shams also noted that the deal is fully guaranteed.

Last season, Ginobili appeared in 69 games for the Spurs and averaged 18.7 minutes a night, the lowest of his career. He put up 7.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 39.2 percent from three. In typical Spursian fashion, two of Ginobili’s finest performances came in the postseason against the Golden State Warriors.

After losing Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs got swept in the Western Conference Finals, but Ginobili averaged 13.8 points in the four games against the Warriors while barely playing 20 mins a night.

The two-time All-Star will become the 19th player in NBA history to play a season after turning 40, and he and Vince Carter will be the league’s only active players with four decades of living under their belt. Before Carter last year, Grant Hill and Kurt Thomas were the last two guy to be over 40, and they did it in 2013.

Ginobili is a basketball icon even if the numbers don’t show it. On the surface, his NBA numbers are barely Hall of Fame worthy, but his accolades say differently. The Argentinian is a four-time champ who’s landed on two All-NBA teams to complement his two All-Star appearances. Additionally, he was the league’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2008.

However, there’s a reason it’s the Basketball Hall of Fame. Ginobili’s impact internationally rivals that of Yao Ming and Dirk Nowitzki; he singlehandedly brought the sport to his native country. On top of that, he also had tremendous success in FIBA and Olympic settings.

Ginobili embodies the Spurs organization to the fullest. It’ll be a sad day for basketball fans when he announces his retirement, but at least he’s giving us two more campaigns.

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