Spurs deny Manu Ginobili permission

ByABC News
July 28, 2014, 11:37 PM

— -- The San Antonio Spurs have denied Manu Ginobili permission to represent his native Argentina at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, according to a report by the San Antonio Express-News.

The report says the Spurs cited Ginobili's recovery from a stress fracture in his right leg as the reason for asking him to refrain from international competition this summer.

It was discovered following San Antonio's NBA championship run that Ginobili played through the injury during the Finals.

Ginobili, 37, is expected to be sidelined for up to two months with the injury, which would cut it close with the late-August start of the World Cup in Spain.

Part of Argentina's "Golden Generation," Ginobili played on the team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and knocked off the United States in the process.