Manu Ginobili left Wednesday night’s game in Orlando with a left ankle impingement after stepping on Aaron Gordon’s foot in the third quarter.
Ginobili got up slowly, and Spurs trainer Will Sevening looked at the ankle briefly on the bench before Manu limped to the locker room. It was quickly diagnosed as an ankle impingement, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Manu Ginobili (left ankle impingement) will not return to tonight's game.
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) February 16, 2017
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich said he did not like the way Ginobili fell. “He knew something was wrong there. So, we will see. Luckily we have a little bit of time here.”
Ginobili's toe went forward and he seems to favor the back of his ankle, indicating that this is a posterior ankle impingement pic.twitter.com/zVAJJ97XBT
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) February 16, 2017
The specific type of impingement was not specified, but all signs point to posterior as opposed to anterior. This injury typically causes pain at the back of the ankle when the toe is pointed down, and can be aggravated by running and jumping.
Ginobili played through the same injury on the same ankle in 2008, an injury that limited his explosiveness in the NBA playoffs and was re-aggravated at the Beijing Olympics, forcing arthroscopic surgery in the offseason. Surgery is not a common treatment for this particular injury, and there are varying degrees of severity.
Coach Popovich will not rush the 39-year-old Ginobili back. He’ll have plenty of time to rest up over the All-Star break, as the Spurs don’t play until next Friday in Los Angeles.
Ginobili’s teammate David Lee summed it up after the game, “Timing’s as good as it can be, I’m not a doctor but he looks like he’s gonna hopefully be ok. I know he’s a little frustrated, but luckily it wasn’t a two-point game and we needed him there, and we have a break coming up. He’s an old man similar to myself, so it’ll be nice to have a couple of days.”
After the game, Ginobili took to Twitter to share his plans for the eight-day break.
All right my friends! Time to take a week long break from the basketball season and enjoy some family time. 🏖️🏖️
— Manu Ginobili (@manuginobili) February 16, 2017
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