Manu Ginobili, a 4-time champion with Spurs, retires at 41

"A role model for all of us that love this wonderful sport," Spurs forward Pau Gasol said.

Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard were the backbone of San Antonio's drive to its most recent NBA championship in 2014, and this will be the first time that Gregg Popovich begins a season as the Spurs' head coach with none of those players on the roster. Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan earlier this summer, the end of a relationship in San Antonio that had apparently gone too sour to save.

Leonard's departure meant Ginobili would have been the last significant player tied to the Spurs' title years. But in the end, retirement was his call.

"Great player. Fierce competitor. Winner," Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki said on Twitter. "Next stop: HOF."Indeed, getting enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame would seem like a certainty for Ginobili. The No. 57 pick in the 1999 draft, Ginobili averaged 13.3 points and 3.8 assists in 1,057 regular-season games. He was a two-time All-Star and was the league's Sixth Man of the Year for the 2007-08 season (getting 123 of 124 votes), plus he teamed with Popovich for 135 playoff wins — the third-highest total for any player-coach combo in NBA history.