did you know that there was an NBA player who only used his left hand a player who did something everyone expected but no one could stop well their player was Manu jobi and he dominated the NBA by becoming a two-time NBA Allstar and winning four championships throughout his legendary career but why did he refuse to use his right hand and how did he still find success with his strange scoring philosophy I wanted to go left if I couldn't go left then I well I would make some sort of move to go back left to find out let's go back to 1977 in bajia Blanca Argentina where Emmanuel David jobi was born into an incredibly fortunate situation because his father jge was a basketball coach in addition to being the president of their local Recreation Center it was at this recck Center where Manu and his two older brothers would develop their love for basketball battling against anyone and everyone who Ste foot onto their Court however Jah Manu being the youngest and shortest he would develop a very unique skill set in order to stay on the court playing the sport he loved whenever they could the job family would sit down and watched the Chicago Bulls locked in on their Superstar player Michael Jordan while many watched an a as Jordan flew through the air janobi would focus on something completely different Michael's insane competitive Spirit Manu would sit and dream about one day competing in the NBA but being from a small town in Argentina job thought thought it would never be possible instead he aimed to become a professional player in Argentina just like his two older brothers as Manu grew into a young adult his quirky play style and insane competitive drive would see him achieve his dream a whole lot earlier than many expected because at just 16 years old job signed to Andino Sports Club a professional team that played in the Argentinian National League however he would only play a single season for Andino before they traded him to Hometown team studes de Bahia Blanca in 1996 jobi would continue to play for Bahia Blanca between 1996 and 1998 and his incredibly flashy style of play at such a young age caught the eyes of the Argentinian Junior national team who selected him to represent his country at the under 22 World Cup in 1998 Manu alongside his new teammates would head down to Australia where jobi would showcase his dominant allaround scoring game he could shoot from range dunk on people as well as finish and attack exceptionally well with his dominant left hand it was this incredible play at the under 22 championships that had the 21-year-old Manu selected to represent the Argentinian senior Men's National Team at the 1999 Americas Cup this selection gave Manu a huge confidence boost and jobi still holding on to his lifelong dream of playing in the NBA decided to throw his name into the 1999 NBA dve draft because why not 26th of June 1999 the San Antonio Spurs have just defeated the New York knoks led by the General David Robinson and the 1997 number one draft pick Tim Duncan crowning them as NBA champions shortly after their Championship run RC Buford San Antonio's general manager alongside their head coach Greg papovich would sit down to discuss who they should select with their 29th and 57th picks given that they had just won a title their goal was to trade these picks to acquire Winn now Talent the pair would easily trade away the 29th pick but not a single team in the NBA had any interest in the second to last pick so aie and pop had a problem what are we supposed to do with this pick who should we even draft they would look down at their notes of international prospects and one name stood out because RC Buford had also been in Australia watching the under 22 World Cup and Greg papovich remembered seeing a certain name of the Argentinian National Team roster so with the 57th selection in the 1999 NBA draft the San Antonio Spurs select Emanuel goino from Argentina despite being shockingly drafted into the NBA jobi opted to remain in Europe to continue developing his game because he believed he wasn't ready to perform at an NBA level instead Manu would get an opportunity to play at the second highest level of the game because at Tori MSA the head coach of Euro League team versus bologa had been scouting Manu ever since he became a professional player at 16 so mesina would offer the now 22- year-old a contract to be the first player Off the Bench which he gladly accepted Sasha danilovich a European basketball legend was the starting shooting guard for verus and the player Manu was bought in to back up however just before the season began he suddenly retired this shocking exit me Manu was now a full-time starter a role he flourished in averaging 15. 2 points and in insane 2. 9 steals per game verus led by job's incredible play would not only win backto back Italian National League championships in 2001 and 2002 but win a Euro league title in 2001 it was during this championship series that Manu would showcase just how dominant he truly was being named as the most valuable player RC alongside papovich had kept a close eye on Manu and were realizing that maybe he wouldn't be a project instead some one who could get them back to their championship winning ways so they offered him a 2-year contract to begin in the 2002 2003 season and after winning a Euro league title jobi felt confident enough to play at an NBA level however this International success meant very little to the current players within the Spurs their current star Tim Duncan said this when asked about Manu supposedly he's he's a great find he's he's the best player in Europe so b Bruce Bowen one of the NBA's best Defenders would also question job's ability to play at an NBA level Bowen would test Manu throughout their practices applying the same defensive pressure he would use against players like Kobe Bryant and job would rise to the occasion his competitive spirit and quirky style of play something the Americans weren't used to guarding would earn Manu the respect of his teammates and head coach Greg papovich the Spurs would face off against the defending Champion Los Angeles Lakers on the 29th of October 2002 it was this game where Manu would fight finally begin his NBA career and he did so in spectacular fashion his first ever NBA shot attempt was a three which he splashed making it clear Manu had arrived and he was ready to compete for an NBA championship over the course of the Season jobi would prove himself as a legitimate rotation player but something was very different about the way he played especially compared to his American counterparts look weird he has a lot of moves or instincts that you can't teach manu's awkward play style that was comprised of funky left hand finishes step backs and athletic drives would cause some tension between the fundamentally focused coach pop and himself with job sharing every time I did something wrong I look at him and say he shaking his head that so I was trying to figure out what he wanted and what he did regardless of Pop's initial criticisms the Spurs would grab a league leading 60 wins to end their regular season and was set to face the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA Playoffs jobi would come off the bench and provide a vital scoring punch for the Spurs averaging 7.
6 points which helped them eliminate Phoenix in six games but it wasn't this series where janob proved his worth they were set to face the defending Champion Lakers in the second round Manu would score 15 points and 17 points in the first two games of the series leading the Spurs to a 2 lead this sudden Rising play caught the eye of a certain black mamba I remember Kobe Bryan saying to me when Manu came in to the game like Bruce who's that white boy I said oh he ain't no he ain't no white boy he he Argentinian jobi was beginning to gain respect from not only his teammates but the whole NBA as the Spurs easily dealt with the Lakers dominating them in game six ending the series with a 28o win San Antonio's cross state rival the Dallas Mavericks were the Spurs final challenge in their quest to winning an NBA championship the 25-year-old rookie would again shine throughout the series but none more than game four Manu had a huge Breakout game scoring 21 points while shooting 66% from the field leading the Spurs to Victory and just a few days later they would eliminate the Mavericks in game six booking their tickets to face the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals manu's eccentric play style was gaining him more and more fans with each passing game including a certain former NBA player who would go crazy when watching jobi play point in the green room tonight Kenny and you made fun of me last week I'm hungry just no BL no BL my new J B oh my God J and thanks to Manu style of play Greg papovich was changing the way he viewed basketball pop would often yell at jobi for the wild moves he would pull off only to be met with a simple response he goes monor this is what I do and from that day on we pretty much let him do what he does so he taught me to be a little bit more patient to widen my horizons think out of the box a little bit more armed with the trust of their head coach Manu would play incredibly throughout the NBA Finals scoring 12 points in game five and a crucial 11 points in game six job's play made it clear that he was the piece San Antonio was missing and the Spurs were crowned Champions once again again after their victory in game six job had gone from a wild card 57th pick to an NBA champion in justi as first season in the league and things were only getting better for jobi because to end the 2003 2004 season San Antonio fueled by failing to win back-to-back championships in 2000 grabbed the second best record their hard work was rewarded with a first round matchup against a very young but hungry Memphis Grizzlies however the defending Champions would just too much for the Grizzlies sweeping them with ease in just four games this commanding performance resulted in a second round match up with the Los Angeles Lakers who were ret toed reset and ready for Revenge throughout the first two games everything seemed to go well for Manu with the Spurs grabbing an early two games to zero lead San Antonio would hit to LA with extreme confidence until something mind-blowing would happen Manu would score 17 points in game three and 21 points in game four but this wasn't enough to Spur San Antonio to Victory I had to do it once I'm sorry with the Lakers tying the series at two games each in game five with 29 seconds remaining the Spurs held a one-point lead just a couple of positions away from swinging the series back in their favor but Kobe would be [Music] Kobe he sets it KOB gets around K puts it up made it Lakers by one 11 to go the Spurs called a timeout allowing coach pop to draw up a game winning out of bounds play which all started with to Duncan he gets double Shack overade unbel San Antonio was about to do the impossible grab a three games to two lead hit to Los Angeles and essentially ends the Lakers Dynasty until this happened they get it to fer heor scor game six was the final chance for Manu to will his team to Victory and he did just that job would showcase his signature left handed drives for easy finishes right hand drives into beautiful pull-ups and showcasing a new move not yet seen in the NBA stepping one way and then the other way to maneuver around the much larger Shack but manu's 16 points just wasn't enough to beat the Lakers who would win game six and eliminate the Spurs crushing their hopes of winning backto back NBA titles job was heartbroken but didn't hang his head for too long because he wanted to show the world that he was more than an off the- bench scorer and in fact was one of the best shooting guards on Earth shortly after their crushing loss to the Lakers Manu was selected to play for Argentina's national team once again this time at the 2004 Olympics this selection provid job a stage to prove to the world that he was ready for a much larger role in San Antonio but would he be able to dominate against stack teams like the United States however Argentina might not even get a chance to play against the us because after a shock loss to Spain as well as Italy they were down one point with no timeouts against Serbia and things were not looking good for Manu but once again jobi would demonstrate his very unique play style hitting this insane Bank fading jumper to win against ser I propelling them into a semi-finals matchup against the United States the US after winning gold in 1992 1996 and 2000 were hungry to win a fourth gold medal in a row and many felt like they were the heavy favorite but Manu would Shock the World once again scoring an insane 29 points against the United States eliminating them from gold midle contention but their finals opponent had already beaten them in po play so once again Manu and his team entered the game as the underdog despite this Argentina was motivated to get revenge against Italy and job would again lead Argentina throughout the game scoring 16 points in what was at the time the most crucial game of his career monu's incredible performance would lead Argentina to their first ever basketball medal at the Olympics and what a medal to start with the cherry on top was that Manu had proved to the world he wasn't just an off the- bench scorer instead a world class bucket getter someone capable of leading a team to incredible Heights and the even crazier thing is he was doing all of this only scoring with his left hand entering the 2004 2005 season San Antonio offered Manu a new contract $52 million over6 years which he gladly accepted fueled by his gold medal winning performance and driven to get revenge for their 204 playoff blunder Manu would have an incredible season on the 21st of January job would have the performance of his lifetime scoring a career high 48 points it was because of this play that coach pop would finally change his mind elevating Manu into the starting lineup for the rest of the season his new starting role allows him to average 16 points per game and for the first time in job's career he was named as an Allstar for the 2005 allstar game this nomination was a clear sign that not only had Manu made the NBA but he was becoming one of the best shooting guards in the league San Antonio would end their regular season as the second seed and was set to face the Denver Nuggets who were led by their Rising Star Carmelo Anthony the majority of fans and media personalities around the NBA just assumed it would be an easy sweep and the Spurs would move on to the second round without breaking a sweat but this was far from the truth as Denver would stun the Spurs in game one winning by six points this shock loss caused head coach Greg papovich to make a drastic change to ensure their season wouldn't tragically end in the first round against Denver so coach pop would choose to start Brent Barry and move job back to the bench the same role he played during their last championship run whilst most people all around the world would resent their coach for taking away a starting role that they had worked so hard for Manu was different he approached the situation with extreme humility understanding exactly where coach pop was coming from and it was their incredible relationship that allowed for this understanding I became way better player because of having a coach like that that made me understand how a team worked but also outside the court he started to become like a father figure he became way more than a coach player relationship the incredible thing is popovic's move was genius because jobi would thrive in his new Off the Bench go get Buckets roll dropping 30 2 points in game three assisting the Spurs to a gentleman sweep of the Nuggets winning the series four games to one only know how to play one way and that's hard I mean he Fearless I'm kind of liking Manu you know Manu would remain coming off the bench during their second round Series against the Seattle superponics but after the sonics won game four the Spurs were not in the position they thought they would be with the series tied at two wins each coach pop knew something had to change so game five saw Manu inserted back into the starting lineup and with the Spurs championship hopes on the line he knew he had to perform job would score 39 points with a variety of hanging left-handed Flo of fadeaways what even is this WOW transition step through dunks and gliding Lefty finger rolls leading the Spurs to a three games to two lead hitting into the must-win game six in Seattle throughout game six San Antonio was far from dominant and with 14. 4 seconds remaining the score was tied at 96 popwood placed the Spurs championship hopes into job's hands and Manu would drain the clock before attacking to you guessed it his left hand finding Tim Duncan underneath the basket for a wide open layup giving them a two-point lead with 0. 5 seconds remaining but the Spurs knew all too well what a team can do with limited time on the clock in game-winning situ situations and this time Ray Allen would get wide open in the corner for a potentially game-winning three comes free puts up a three oh it just misses and the Spurs would move on to the Western Conference Finals where they would meet the Phoenix Suns after manu's incredible game five and game six performance against the sonics coach pop would Place chobi back into the starting lineup full time and it only took the Spurs five games to defeat the Suns however what would come next would be their toughest matchup yet the defending Champion Detroit Pistons many questions were raised by fans and the media would the Spurs be able to outscore the incredibly defensive focused Detroit or would the Pistons shut them down Manu would score 26 points in game one and 27 in game two leading the Spurs to hold a commanding two games to zero lead heading back to Detroit for game three however this is where things started to go go horribly wrong for the Spurs because Manu would struggle only scoring seven points and Detroit would demolish San Antonio in Game four winning by a mind-blowing 31 points tying the series at two games each Manu knew that if he didn't have an incredible offensive performance in game five and game six their Championship dreams would be destroyed by the Pistons while Manu would only score 15 points in game five he would impact the game in another way by using using the focus of Detroit's defense against him job would throw dime after dime to his teammates finishing the game with nine assists however it was his final assist that would be the most crucial also side note I know this video is about scoring but Manu is a very underrated passer like very underrated anyway back to the video down two with 9.
4 seconds left the Spurs had drawn up a game winning out of Bounce plate Tim Duncan would screen to get Manu a wideopen corner three but Detroit immediately Ely countered with a double team to try and force a turnover job understanding of the situation and the importance of trusting your team immediately passed the ball to one of the best late clock shot makers in the world Robert Big Shot Bob ay for three but the battle wasn't over the Pistons still had 5. 4 seconds remaining to take the lead and give themselves a three games to two lead over San Antonio however Tony Parker another International player from France would perform an incredible defensive job on Rip Hamilton Parker forced him into a very tough fading jump shot which he missed and crucially Manu tipped the ball away from the Pistons big man attempting to put it back which Bruce bone would pick up and dribble out the clock the Spurs were just one win away from winning an NBA title and with the last two games to be played in their home arena the whole team felt confident that they would win their second championship in just 3 years but the defending Champions had other plans despite Manu again taking on a heavy scoring load dropping 21 points in game six Detroit fueled by wanting to do what very few NBA teams had ever achieved in going backto back as NBA champions won by n points the stage was Now set the final game of the season between the two best teams whoever wins leaves as NBA champions PJ Kaliso an assistant coach with the Spurs was interviewed about manag W's play before game seven and had this to say Manu is incredibly special player he's a warrior he's going to play better in the fourth quarter he's going to play better in the last three minutes of a game I think people realize now uh just how special he is Manu would score 23 points in game seven including this huge three late in the fourth quarter puts it on the floor lays it off to jov the two on the as well as the clutch free throws to ensure Detroit had no chance of coming back and the Spurs were crowned NBA champions in the span of just 5 years Manu jobi had achieved something impossible winning a Euroleague Championship Euroleague finals MVP NBA championship Olympic gold middle and then shockingly another NBA championship the even crazier thing was he was doing so really only scoring with his left hand jobi and the Spurs continued their success into the 2005 2006 season with Manu averaging 15. 1 points and he was starting to change how guards would score against taller players with his very unique moves jobi would often step to one side of a big to get them to move in that direction before stepping the opposite way to find a sneaky opening for a left-handed finish near the room which would be dubbed the eurostep the eurostep is now an incredibly popular move used by almost all NBA players but originates from Europeans like Manu the crazy thing is J didn't even realize he was doing anything weird or unique even the this the Euro Step I didn't know I was doing anything unusual I was using the only tool I had to go by guys like that were 50 to 60 lbs heavier and taller and it could jump more than me and for me for me it was so natural and so automatic with the Spurs again grabbing the League's best record throughout the regular season the stage was set for them to find finally repeat as NBA champions Manu would have an incredible performance in game two of their first round Series against the Sacramento Kings dropping 32 points while the Kings would win two games the Spurs eventually defeated them in six and moved on to the second round against the Dallas Mavericks a series that would change Manu job's career for the worst Dallas led by their German Superstar Durk Nowitzki were a formidable opponent taking the Spurs all the way to game seven however with 32 seconds remaining the Spurs held a three-point lead and it looked likely they would be the team to move on and face the Phoenix Suns Dallas ran a nice sideline out of bounds play to get their European Superstar the ball despite Nowitzki getting decent position inside the three-point line the Spurs crucially held a three-point lead therefore even if Dirk scored a layup San Antonio would still be up one job saw that Bowen was slightly beat therefore he ran over to provide help only to foul Nowitzki as he was going up and the foul job had done the worst possible thing fouling Durk who made the basket and was heading to the free throw line where he tied the game at 104 but we all make mistakes and it was still the Spurs ball with 21.
6 seconds remaining given that the shot clock was off if Manu timed it right he could win the game for the Spurs and his mistake in their last position would be completely forgotten just like game six against SuperSonics in their previous Championship run coach pop put the ball back in job's hands for the most important position of their 206 season Manu would run the clock down before yes you guessed it again attacking to his left hand but this time he failed missing the game-winning shot and they would HD to overtime throughout overtime the Mavericks would dismantle the Spurs winning 118 to 111 ending San Antonio's dreams of repeating as NBA champions Manu was devastated we were all hurt the faces were really sad and it was hard to talk to each other because how upset we felt as the 2006 2007 season began the Spurs headed to Paris for their training camp focused on avoiding making the same mistakes again with Coach pop commenting listening is important then maybe we don't fou the whiskey the last play of the game we have another ring and a huge change was on the Horizon for Manu job's career during the regular season San Antonio would get off to a rough start and Coach pop knew something would have to change in order for the Spurs to have another chance at winning an NBA championship therefore he sat down with Manu and informed him of his new plan to help the Spurs get back to a championship level pop told job that he would be permanently coming off the bench and this decision shocked Manu at the beginning it was kind of hard it was it took me a while to understand it because he had worked so hard throughout his career to earn a starting spot but over time he came to understand poic's thinking once you get that you know ego thing out of the middle I can understood that that was my role that I it was going to be better for the team and I I always left it despite his initial frustrations Manu would grow to love his off the- bench role so I I to see what was going on more and job would finish the season averaging 16. 5 points per game his dominant regular season included a 40-point performance against Atlanta as well as four 30-point games throughout the regular season these performances would earn the Spurs a first round playoff matchup against a familiar opponent the Denver Nuggets but in similar fashion to their previous matchup with Denver San Antonio easily disposed of the nuggets and they would head into a second round matchup against the Phoenix Suns which all came down to a pivotal game six because Phoenix knew if they won they would head back to Arizona for game seven and with the energy their home crowd provided that they would be the team moving on to the Western Conference Finals knowing the importance of winning this game job would have an incredible Performance Off the Bench scoring 33 points grabbing 11 rebounds and getting six assists manu's dominant play helped the Spurs in the series that game and they were Now set to face the Utah jaars in the Conference Finals a series in which chobi would dominate averaging 17. 6 points in their powerful four games to one series Victory this me the Spurs were set to make their third NBA Finals appearance in 5 years however while their road to the finals was a lot easier than previous Seasons San Antonio was set to face a new opponent one they hadn't met yet the proclaimed Chosen One LeBron James LeBron was making his NBA Finals debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers and his path to the finals was a destructive one James dismantled the Detroit Pistons defense in their Eastern Conference Finals matchup scoring 48 points in game five and the even crazier thing is 25 of those points were in a row but LeBron was only 22 years old compared to the Spurs who had been Championship contenders ever since LeBron in the league in 2003 this Championship experience was just too much for the rookie Cavaliers because Manu alongside his Spurs teammates would incredibly sweep James and the Cavaliers in the 2007 NBA finals jobi had won his third NBA title the Spurs fourth since 1999 you might think that winning three NBA titles in just five seasons was already an incredible resume but wait until you find out what happened in the 2007 2008 season because Manu was really beginning to flourish in his off the- bench role averaging an incredible 9.
5 points per game his nearly 20 point average was made up of 11 30 or more point games and two 40 or more point games throughout the regular season these improvements saw Manu finally gain some recognition from the NBA winning six man of the year as well as being named to the all NBA 13 sitting the stage for Jano to achieve something he had never done before San Antonio easily maneuvered their way to the Western Conference finals and was set to face the Kobe Le Los Angeles Lakers Manu alongside his teammates still hurt by their shocking 2004 playoff series loss against the Lakers were ready to get revenge however things would take a dark turn during their first two games of the series with Manu only scoring a combined 17 points in game one and in game two San Antonio would head back to Texas knowing that they had to win both home games in order to have a chance at achieving their backto back Championship dreams and Manu knew if he didn't perform in game three he would feel the same pain he felt in 2004 and 2006 Kobe and Manu would have one of the most epic shooting guard battles in the history of basketball the pair would trade punch after punch both scoring 30 points throughout the month must win game three however the Spurs would finish the game Victorious Downing the Lakers by a mind-blowing 19 points keeping their Championship hopes alive but this is where things started to go downhill for not only the Spurs and Manu but job's whole career because during game four and five he would only score 16 points this horrific performance when San Antonio needed him most would result in them being eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers and not only that this may have been the Spurs final chance at winning backto back NBA titles because Manu due to injuries would struggle throughout the 2008 2009 season which would also prevent him from playing in the 2009 playoffs and in The Following Season something crazy would happen Phoenix who had been at the mercy of Manu and the Spurs ever since he entered the league in 2002 would finally get their Revenge sweeping them in the second round of the NBA playoffs in the 2009 2010 season however do you remember what George gin said earlier in the video nobody only know how to play one way and that's hard I mean he Fearless Manu was one of the toughest most competitive players on the whole planet and if you think back to the start of his story it's really no surprise why because his Idol was the most competitive toughest basketall player in history job would turn everything around in the 2010 2011 season averaging 17. 4 points and would once again be named as an Allstar as well as being appointed to the all NBA 13 the even crazier thing is NBA media personalities were actually arguing for Manu to be an MVP candidate saying that he was the best player on the League's best team therefore he should win however Manu would suffer an injury right before the Spurs first round matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies forcing him to miss game one and manu's absence would result in a Spurs loss this is when something shocking would happen because despite suffering a broken right elbow Manu didn't want to let his team down so he had his elbow taped strapped and kept together with a compression sleeve so he could be out there fighting and fight he did Manu would drop an insane 33 points in game five of the series which at this stage in his career seemed so normal for him but I want you to imagine just how difficult it would be for you to score 30 points only using your dominant hand but for jobi someone who really only wanted to go left anyway had no issue playing with a broken right elbow and San Antonio would win game five just two wins away from moving on to the next round however Memphis was too much for the Aging Spurs because the Grizzlies would place the final nail in manu's coffin during game six winning by eight points this loss ended the Spurs championship dreams once again and something very unus usual would happen over the offseason at 12:01 Friday morning the NBA locked at its players after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement it took months and months for new terms to be agreed upon causing the Spurs to have their season opener on boxing day compared to the usual Halloween start this lockout which was frustrating for most NBA players was actually really beneficial for the Spurs and specifically Manu and once again history was repeating itself because RC Buford performed a Drft Day miracle trading their beloved veteran point guard George Hill to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for their 15th pick Kawai Leonard Kawai would prove to be an incredible pickup for San Antonio because just like Manu Leonard provided instant impact for the Spurs helping them grab the League's best record heading into the playoffs rejuvenated from their longer break the Spurs would again make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals where they would face the Oklahoma City jobi would have incredible performances in game one and game two scoring 46 points combined in both games leading San Antonio to a 2- win to zero series lead at this stage many felt like the Spurs would beat Oklahoma with ease as OKC's core was incredibly young and inexperienced but this was far from the truth the Thunder would shut Manu down in games three and four only allowing him to score a combined 21 point tying the series at two games each once again like many times in job's successful NBA career coach pop needed him to be a worldclass scorer because papovich sensed a shift in the series so he opted to start Manu for the first time since the 2007 season but would Manu at 34 years old be up to the task and save San Antonio's season jobi would go out and score a point for every year he had lived on Earth but this would not be enough to save the Spurs who would lose both game five and game six San Antonio had once again failed to make it to the NBA finals the Spurs were at a crossroad heading into the 2012 2013 season as their core were all nearing the end of their careers many question why they kept the core together at the stage but everyone in the Spurs organization knew something incredible was about to happen because the Spurs had done the impossible led by their young Rising Star kawh Leonard made it all the way back to the NBA finals for the first time in Five Seasons San Antonio was set to face the defending Champions the Miami Heat led by LeBron James in the 2012 2013 NBA finals manu's play throughout the series was much like his regular season filled with many ups and many Downs you see Manu had been a professional basketball player for nearly 20 years at this point and it was this load on his body that impacted job's performance when it mattered most job would shoot a horrific 36% from the field and averaged 2. 3 turnovers a game in the first four games of the NBA Finals however despite manu's blunders the series was tied at two games each and they headed back to San Antonio for a must-win game five Manu knew that he had to step up otherwise this might be his last chance to win an NBA title and step up he did at 35 years old just 42 days away from his 36th birthday Manu would drop 24 points in game five as well as an insane 10 assists leading the Spurs to Victory against Miami when asked after the game about jop's play coach pop had this to say I went from uh trading him on the spot to wanting to cook him breakfast tomorrow and when when I talked to him and say Manu he goes this is what I do that's what he's going to tell me the finals moved back to Miami for game six and something had clearly shifted in the series because with 29 seconds remaining Miami Heat fans started to leave the arena they were doing this as the Spurs held a commanding five-point lead and many just assumed the game was over the shocking thing was it wasn't just fans NBA officials also assumed San Antonio had won someone gets yellow rope bumps me I turn around they're pulling the yellow rope to rope everyone off and then I noticed the Larry O'Brien trophy being wheed out we have it in our fingertips an NBA championship however just a minute before the sideline out of Bounce play Manu had crucially missed one of his two free throws meaning the Spurs were only up five instead of six but just like his silly foul in game seven against Dallas in 2006 if the Spurs won then no one would even remember this but thanks to an offensive rebound LeBron would hit an incredibly clutch three cutting the Spurs lead to two points yet San Antonio just had to have one final solid possession assuming Miami would foul all they needed to do was hit both free throws and the game would be theirs unfortunately just like Manu Kawai would only make a single free throw allowing Miami to dribble the ball up the core and the rest is history Tri Spurs foul should Miami go for the three right away just attack the basket catches puts up the three W go rebound BOS back out to Alan his three pointer B San Antonio's worst nightmare had happened Ray Allen 3 sent what was almost a guaranteed win into overtime giving the heat a chance to tie the series at three games each throughout overtime the score would remain locked however with 55.
4 seconds remaining and down one something tragic would happen job looked to attack the basket unsurprisingly to was left but he couldn't find a layup therefore he looked for a kickout pass only to turn the ball over and if you thought this was gut-wrenching it only gets worse Dwayne Wade would miss a step back jumper and with 14 seconds remaining kawhai would grab the rebound and Coach pop opted to not call timeout trusting job to attack the Miami Heat defense but once again Manu would crucially turn the ball over Miami had done the possible tying the series at three games each forcing a deciding game seven job was devastated and I was not there I mean something in me was not responding the same way so I you know either one good game terrible game okay game terrible game and then we we I play a very good fifth game uh we get to game six to Win It and may have played the worst game of my career I don't know Miami would continue their incredible success in game seven and would do something the Spurs had never been able to achieve winning backto back NBA championships Manu placed the full blame of the Spurs final loss on himself to this day believe that I lost that game and I we didn't win a championship because of me Hing into to the 2013 2014 season coach pop would force the Spurs to watch game six from start to finish making every player relive all of the emotions of their tragic downfall aiming to motivate them to get revenge and what would likely be their final championship run as a team motivated by his terrible performance in last year's finals Manu would average 12.
