Cartoon goes Looney for Manu

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Tim Duncan was lounging at home, idly watching a cartoon with his two young children when something caught his ear.

He couldn't be positive, but he was fairly certain Lola Bunny, Bugs Bunny's animated girlfriend on “The Looney Tunes Show,” had just uttered the name of Spurs teammate Manu Ginobili.

Duncan rewound the clip to make sure he had heard correctly. He indeed had, prompting a call to Ginobili.

“He told me, 'You finally made it,'” Ginobili said. “At first I thought it was Argentinian, someone had (dubbed my name). It was fun to see. Unexpected, very unexpected.”

It happened again late last month, with Lola assigning the role of Ginobili to Speedy Gonzalez in a play. Santa Claus then popped through the Warner Brothers logo and bellowed Manu's name at the end of the credits.

“It was funny the first time,” Ginobili said. “The second time, I was like, OK, something is going on.”

As is so often the case on the court, Ginobili's instincts proved correct. The references are a tribute from Alamo Heights graduate Hugh Davidson, “The Looney Tunes Show's” head writer and a passionate Spurs fan dating back to the team's ABA days.

Davidson said a fourth mention, in which Lola Bunny explains the roots of her Ginobili infatuation, was cut. But there is no editing Davidson, who rates Ginobili as his favorite player.

“He's underappreciated for how great he is,” said Davidson, 43. “It's madness watching him play. I think he's the most entertaining player to ever put on a uniform. His brain is not like anyone else's.”

It's hardly surprising that Lola — voiced by former “Saturday Night Live” star Kristen Wiig, who needed help pronouncing Ginobili's name — would have a crush on a baller. The beautiful blonde bunny made her debut in the 1996 Michael Jordan vehicle “Space Jam.”

Living in Los Angeles has been essential for Davidson's career as a professional writer. In addition to helping reboot Looney Tunes as a contemporary version of the classic cartoon, he shared multiple Emmy Awards for his work on “Robot Chicken.”

More Information See video clips of the cartoons with Manu Ginobili

As a basketball fan, however, it has been hell. Adrift on an endless sea of purple and gold, Davidson is only too happy to fly the hometown flag in enemy territory.

“The Lakers are the antithesis of the Spurs,” he said of the team that will face San Antonio tonight at the AT&T Center. “They throw money at everything, they're lazy. I can't bear it.”

Davidson is only slightly irritated that the Spurs didn't start to win big until he left town.

“When I was little, I didn't think they were allowed to be in the playoffs,” he said. George “Gervin would score a lot of points, and they'd be out. It's been night and day how great they've been.”

Davidson said he's never encountered any resistance to the Ginobili references. He was, however, aghast when a basketball game Bugs Bunny watched was mocked up with Lakers colors.

“We can't micro-manage everything,” he said. “I'm like, 'God, I'd rather him be watching the Bucks than the Lakers.' I'd rather support any small market than them.”

Davidson has converted fellow Looney Tunes writer Rachel Ramras, a Phoenix native with whom he lives in L.A. She and Davidson had been waiting for some sort of feedback, which they finally received when Ginobili acknowledged his affinity for Speedy Gonzalez via Twitter.

“We kept looking after Christmas,” she said. “Somebody picked up on it, and when Manu responded, we were so excited. We'd only put him in every (episode) if we could.”

It only took four championships, but the Spurs' Q score finally might be taking off. In addition to Ginobili's Looney Tunes love, an Israeli rap group produced a track in Gregg Popovich's honor last summer.

“We're the Spurs,” said Duncan, who was referenced in the Adam Sandler comedy “Grown Ups.” “We don't get it a whole lot. But every once in a while you get something like that. It's pretty cool.”

dmccarney@express-news.net

Twitter: @danmccarneysaen