Manu Ginobili likely doesn't care about lists like this, but that's why he has an army of fans. We'll gladly fight these battles in his name, whether he requests it or not. Ranking the 10 best European players in NBA history and excluding him is one of the fights that is worth getting into. It's just blatantly wrong, disrespectful nonsense, but that didn't stop Bleacher Report from doing it anyway.
Bleacher Report ranks the Top 10 Best European players in NBA history:
1. Nikola Jokić
2. Dirk Nowitzki
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo
4. Luka Dončić
5. Pau Gasol
6. Tony Parker
7. Andrei Kirilenko
8. Rudy Gobert
9. Marc Gasol
10. Vlade Divac
via @BleacherReport pic.twitter.com/Seh07eNZMB
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) August 28, 2025
There have been many special players to come from across the pond. That's no excuse to leave off one of the best we've seen, nor is Tony Parker's inclusion to leave off the other Spurs player because they played in the same era. I'm not sure if either of those reasons is why this decision was made. I'm trying to find a rationalization for it, though, and I'm flailing because it doesn't make sense.
Manu Ginobili is a legendary European player
My first question to the makers of this list is, which one of the guys on the list above led their team to a gold medal in the Olympics after defeating Team USA in the semi-finals? There's only one of them. His name is Manu Ginobili. That accomplishment right there should put him on this list, but that's not where his success ends.
This is a four-time champion who was instrumental in winning those titles. You could argue that he wasn't as dynamic during the first run, but he played in all 24 playoff games, played 27 minutes per game, and played his role well. One of the greatest sixth men all time, Manu averaged nine points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and was making threes at a 38% clip.
Ginobili was not the first to hit the Euro-step, but he's the player who popularized it, and now it's one of the deadliest weapons for drivers of the basketball. Everyone from guards to big men use it, and 1/3rd of thee Big 3 from Argentina deserves credit for that.
Ginobili should be ahead of several players on this list
The next step of this complaint to ensure it's done properly is to decide which players he should supplant. That's not difficult at all. Slide him in right behind Tony Parker. I don't care that Marc Gasol won a Defensive Player of the Year award that he shouldn't have. I don't care that Rudy Gobert has four of them when we all know he shouldn't possess that many.
Ginobili was no slouch on defense, and he was a special offensive player. He could knock down shots from outside, finish among the trees in the paint with a creative lay-up package, or he'd just dunk on your head. His ball-handling was awesome, and staying in front of him was almost impossible. Everyone knew he wanted to get to his left hand, but you still couldn't stop it.
And while Andrei Kirilenko has one of the coolest names in basketball history, he wasn't the force that Manu was. He was a top-tier role player. Ginobili was so much more. Ancillary pieces aren't a part of big threes, which Kirilenko was not. Nor was he a member of a big two for whatever they were doing in Utah.
Not having one of the winningest players in basketball history who brought home several championships, popularized a move that's still being used today, and led his team to an Olympic gold medal is malpractice. Spurs fans won't have it.