Manu Ginobili will be returning to the San Antonio Spurs, the team announced Thursday.
Ginobili, who will be entering his 16th season with the team, reportedly signed a two-year, $5 million deal to return to the team, sources confirmed to ESPN. Terms of the deal were first reported by The Vertical.
Ginobili had said last month on Twitter that he would be returning to the Spurs for another season, and league sources told ESPN that he planned to push back retirement for at least one more season.
It's officially, official. MANU IS BACK.
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) August 24, 2017
→ https://t.co/KN6pO1KEHx pic.twitter.com/F05IKIY6Q5
The four-time NBA champ will become the eighth player in NBA history to spend his entire career with one team and play at least 16 seasons, joining Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, John Stockton, Reggie Miller and John Havlicek.
The 40-year-old Ginobili is one of the most decorated international players in basketball history, a two-time NBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist and a Euroleague MVP. Ginobili made $14 million in 2016-17, during which he averaged 7.5 points and 18.7 minutes.
He has played in 992 regular-season games and made 212 postseason appearances, while garnering All-NBA recognition twice.
Considered one of the creators of San Antonio's culture of selflessness, Ginobili, for 15 seasons, has wowed crowds with an array of unconventional moves, clever passes and arguably the league's most dangerous Eurostep.
In Game 3 of last season's conference finals, Ginobili poured in 21 points to become the first player 39 or older to score 20 or more points off the bench in a playoff game since the NBA began tracking starts in 1970-71, according to research from Elias Sports Bureau. Ginobili contributed 17 points in Game 1.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Michael C. Wright contributed to this report
