Spurs retire Ginobili jersey in emotional ceremony

That was all I had to do."In an arena packed full of fans from all over the world, the Spurs lifted Ginobili's No. 20 jersey into the rafters, right next to the No. 21 jersey of Tim Duncan.Duncan, former Spurs point guard Tony Parker, Fabricio Oberto and coach Gregg Popovich all delivered speeches at Thursday's ceremony, which took place 25 minutes after San Antonio's 116-110 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers and likely vied for a place among sports' longest jersey-retirement ceremonies.Many of Ginobili's other former teammates were on hand for the highly anticipated night, for which fans lined up outside the gates at the AT&T; Center more than four hours before tipoff.Picture perfect 📸#GraciasManu pic.twitter.com/dIBP79r3DtDeMar DeRozan wore light blue Nikes with a gold swoosh during the game in honor of Ginobili and the Argentine flag, and Ginobili's best friend on the team, Patty Mills, knocked down a 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds remaining to put away the game."It's a special day, a heartfelt day for a lot of people in the San Antonio community and far, far beyond," Mills said. I'm very honored to be in a situation of being his teammate and being a close friend of his for many years."Former Spurs Boris Diaw, Bruce Bowen, Beno Udrih and Nazr Mohammed were also on hand to support Ginobili, as were Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks, New Orleans Pelicans interim general manager Danny Ferry, Dallas Mavericks vice president of basketball operations Michael Finley and Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego.Other attendees included Federico Susbielles, president of the Argentine Basketball Federation, and Argentine journalist Adrián Paenza.All witnessed several highlights from Ginobili's illustrious career, which were played on the scoreboard during breaks in the game.DeMar DeRozan had 25 points, and the San Antonio Spurs celebrated Manu Ginobili's number retirement ceremony by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-110 on Thursday.Ginobili took in all the sights early on from a seat next to Marks, and the night started with the Argentine national anthem. He averaged 8.9 points and 20 minutes per game for the Spurs in his final season.Still, Popovich admitted to feeling some trepidation early in Ginobili's career about the guard's wild and fearless style of play."He showed the folly of me trying to coach him too much, for sure," Popovich said. But over time, you realize that he was gonna get a lot more done by just playing and didn't really need a whole lot of instruction from me."Ginobili retired with one year remaining on his contract.Over the years, San Antonio developed an affinity for international players, and Mills, who is a native of Australia, said Ginobili played a major role alongside Duncan and Parker in establishing the franchise's culture."That was the best thing about our team, and he was the head honcho of that," Mills said. You were unbelievable."Ginobili played his last game for the Spurs on April 24, 2018, when the team was bounced from the Western Conference playoffs by the Golden State Warriors after falling 4-1 in that series.Marco Belinelli, who played with Ginobili on San Antonio's last championship team, said "I think so" when asked if the guard opened the door for the NBA to bring in more international players."A real champion, he won everything," Belinelli said.