This season, for the first time in his long, successful career, Manu Ginobili possesses win shares/48 below .100. WS/48 is my favorite stat out of all the stats because it almost always corresponds with my opinions on who is a good player and who is a bad player, and it doesn’t get bamboozled by low MPG unlike some other catch-all stats I could name. So, for the first time in recorded human history, Manu Ginobili is a mediocre (or worse) NBA player.
But we have to cut the guy some slack. He’s forty years old, and he has to go easy on his body so that he can play six more years in the Argentine league after he retires from the NBA. Nobody really expects him to be effective against NBA players who are half his age, so we’re just happy when he sinks a few shots and doesn’t walk off the court limping or clutching some injured body part.
Think about the 40 year-old males you know in your life. It could be your dad or one of your teachers or a coworker. Now think about that guy playing in the NBA. Yeah. My head hurts too.