He’s represented San Antonio, he’s represented Argentina. Now Ginobili returned to the court to represent humanity against a basketball-shooting robot.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs great Manu Ginobili officially retired from basketball in 2018 and has stayed away from the basketball court for the most part.
But a chance for him to represent humanity was enough for him to return to the hardwood and lace up his sneakers one more time.
The Hall of Famer teamed up with popular YouTube personality Mr. Beast to face a robot on the court in a shooting contest.
Ginobili, who wore No. 20, of course, representing humans, admitted he was nervous to go up against the, as Mr. Beast described, most elite basketball robot in the world.
The challenge for Ginobili and the robot was to be the first to make two shots: one into a standard basketball hoop and the other into a hoop adorned with sharp nails.
And just as if he never retired, Ginobili was able to make the first basket in the standard rim, but the robot also hit the same shot in the same rim.
But when the rim was laced with nails, unfortunately, Ginobili lost to the robot and the overall competition.
The Spurs great congratulated the robot, and who knows if a rematch is on the horizon. Maybe he can test the robot on who does the best Eurostep to the rim?
Ginobili has always been curious about science, so it was no surprise that he agreed to participate in this man-versus-technology experiment.
Also, he’s often ready to help Mr. Beast with his various basketball-related challenges, including serving as head coach for a Spanish-speaking team of YouTube creators against a United States squad in an exhibition game.