Skip Bayless Calls Manu Ginobili 'Most Exciting NBA Player I Ever Watched

Skip Bayless is the master. He managed to take the late August retirement of Manu Ginobili at age 41 and generate some heat. He previewed it on Twitter yesterday, but got to go back to the airwaves today with the full Bayless.

Thank you, Manu, for sacrificing some of your rare talent and basketball genius so the Spurs could win rings. You could've led the NBA in scoring, but you came off the bench. You hit so many clutch shots - who will ever forget 2014's G6 in OKC? You were the spirit of the Spurs.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 27, 2018

Manu Ginobili was the most exciting player I ever watched. MJ obviously was best, but with Manu you never knew what crazy shot or pass he might invent in a split second. Some of his shots missed badly. Some passes sailed into the stands. But mostly he made you say, "MANU!"
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 27, 2018

When discussing Manu Ginobili’s legacy, the guy who diminishes everything LeBron James does had this to say:

"Bayless: “He is definitely in my all-time top 30, Mr. Sharpe, and I want to…” Sharpe: “Top 30 What?” Bayless: “Uh, basketball players” Sharpe: “of all-time?” Bayless: “and he is definitely the most exciting NBA player I ever watched, and I’m pretty sure I watched just about every game he ever played for the San Antonio Spurs, whom he did not join until he was 25 years of age.”"

Here is a video of that segment:

“[Manu Ginobili is] a top 5 all-time competitor. I’ll rank him up there, just on competitiveness, with Jordan, Magic, Bird, and Kobe… I’m just going to be conservative, and I’ll rank him in my top 30 all time.” — @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/uJtQ5p8Y3o
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) August 28, 2018

Now, I’ll say this. Sometimes, you have to push and take the extreme position in order to win the negotiation. Maybe Skip Bayless just wants us to appreciate how underrated Manu Ginobili was. You look at his career scoring average of 13.3 points, and such a position seems flat-out absurd. But Ginobili was efficient and did a little bit of everything well. He was a key cog in championship teams.

You look at something like Win Shares and he is 70th and he is in the same range as guys like Elgin Baylor, Bill Laimbeer, and above Carmelo Anthony. He’s a Top 20 guy of the last 20 years. But then, you don’t even want to go down the all-time list, because you realize you have to literally kick out someone like Gary Payton, Clyde Drexler, or Scottie Pippen. I’ll say this: I would read Skip’s full all-time Top 30. I’m guessing Ginobili wouldn’t even be the wildest ranking on the list.