Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:
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Spurs guard Manu Ginobili made it official on Friday: He will sit out this summer’s FIBA World Championships in Turkey.
The captain of Argentina’s 2004 Olympic championship team said the need to be healthy for Spurs training camp in October, combined with his pending fatherhood, outweighed his loyalty to the national team.
“Everybody knows I love playing for the national team,” he said. “But this year was kind of different. It’s been two years since I can do a good preseason — the one before because of the surgery; the last one because of the (stress) fracture.
“My body kind of needs it, and I want to play the (2012) Olympics, so I decided to pass on this one.
“Besides, there’s another little factor here: My wife is going to have twins in a month. Those are the times you don’t want to miss. Both, one next to the other, makes me take this tough decision.”
