Manu Ginobili says the ankle injury that worsened while playing for Argentina in the Olympics hasn't soured his relationship with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who urged him to skip the tournament. But those talks about a contract extension that began prior to the Beijing Games are on hold until further notice.
"Contract negotiations for an extension have been put off until after the surgery,” agent Herb Rudoy told the San Antonio Express-News. “The Spurs want to see how he recovers from the surgery.”
Ginobili had surgery on Wednesday and is expected to be out 2-3 months. My feeling is he was probably going to need surgery anyway, but he could've gotten it out of the way earlier in the summer if he'd skipped the Olympics -- meaning he would've been ready for the start of the regular season. Could wind up being an expensive decision for both Manu and the Spurs.