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CJ McCollum lists Spurs legend Manu Ginobili’s eurostep in most unstoppable moves

ByDylan Carter|
PORTLAND, OR - JANUARY 07: C.J. McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers dribbles past Manu Ginobli #20 of the San Antonio Spurs at Moda Center on January 7, 2018 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
PORTLAND, OR - JANUARY 07: C.J. McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers dribbles past Manu Ginobli #20 of the San Antonio Spurs at Moda Center on January 7, 2018 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

In the latest episode of his podcast, Blazers guard CJ McCollum listed San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili’s eurostep amongst elite company.

If there’s one move that stands out amongst the rest in San Antonio Spurs history, it’s Manu Ginobili‘s storied eurostep. There were plenty of other signature shots that we could rattle off to combat that, but none were as illustrious and awe-inspiring as Manu’s iconic move.

Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum would agree, as he did on the most recent episode of Pull Up with CJ McCollum, the podcast he hosts with ESPN personality Jordan Schultz. When asked to list the five most unstoppable moves of all-time, McCollum named Manu’s eurostep along with Allen Iverson‘s crossover, Michael Jordan‘s fadeaway, Hakeem Olajuwon‘s Dream Shake and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s skyhook.

In the lastest episode of the @PullUpPod, CJ McCollum listed #Spurs legend Manu Ginobili’s Eurostep as one of the five most unstoppable moves of all-time! #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/5w3aRWzApj

— Air Alamo (@AirAlamo) March 26, 2020

“Manu’s eurostep-His eurostep definitely was revolutionary. The fact that he came over from Europe and did it; Nobody had done it before him.”

This is high praise from the seventh-year guard. Though he still hasn’t earned an All-Star bid in his career, McCollum has been a 20+ point per game scorer for the last five seasons and is averaging career-highs in rebounds and assists this year. McCollum has a wide array of moves himself including a tough pull-up jumper that inspired the name of his podcast.

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It’s nice to see Manu getting the love he deserves. Even though he spent the majority of his career coming off the bench for San Antonio, Ginobili was a star-caliber player who sacrificed some of his role to be a leader for the greater good of his team throughout his playing days. Ginobili will always be one of the most iconic players to ever play in San Antonio with an international impact much greater than many of his contemporaries.

Ginobili’s eurostep was a devastating move in which he contorted his body to take a bold step past and around his competition en route to the basket. One cannot continue their dribble after entering a eurostep, making it one of the more difficult moves to master. Another incredible lefty, 2018 NBA MVP James Harden, mimicked Ginobili’s eurostep and repurposed it as his own.

There are a lot of players who would spend their whole careers trying to pull off a signature move like this one, but most would fail. Ginobili’s ingenuity and heart made him the perfect player to bring the move into the modern era of NBA basketball.

Even though Manu’s been retired for some years now, he’ll never be forgotten for his impact on the sport, and more specifically, the Spurs franchise.

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