San Antonio Spurs fans rejoiced when news broke that Tim Duncan would be joining the team next season as an assistant coach. However, per Marc Stein, Duncan was not the first former Spurs player to be approached for the job. That would be Manu Ginobili:

The assistant coaching concept, I’m told, was also broached with Ginobili, who has only been retired for one season and was apparently not quite ready to dive back in. But then Duncan volunteered — and happily took second billing to Will Hardy in the Spurs’ official news release bearing this predictably saucy headline: “Spurs Announce Assistant Coach Updates.”

Ginobili is one of the best international players of all time, and many assumed the crafty lefty would go into coaching when he retired because of his sky-high basketball IQ and personable character. However, it seems like Ginobili still needs a little time off. As noted by Stein, the guard only retired one year ago.

Ginobili’s playing career is stock full of awards and accolades. He won four NBA championships, appeared in two All-Star games, and won Sixth Man of the Year. His legendary feats in the EuroLeague are too numerous to count, and he won multiple MVPs in Europe as well as a championship. And who could forget his Olympic gold medal with Argentina in 2004?

Ginobili and Duncan made a killer pairing on the court, and we can only hope to see them pair up again on the sidelines in a few years.