"The celebrations keep on coming for Manu Ginobili.

After turning 34 on Thursday, the Spurs guard reveled Friday in the news that he would be able to represent his native Argentina in the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament in his homeland next month.

The Argentine Basketball Federation negotiated a deal to insure the contracts of the four NBA players on the nation's national team. The news turned out to be one of the better birthday gifts ever received by the Spurs All-Star guard.

Ginobili and Luis Scola (Houston Rockets), Carlos Delfino (Milwaukee Bucks) and Andres Nocioni (Philadelphia 76ers) had traveled to Buenos Aires for the first day of the Argentine team's training camp, but were uncertain when they'd be able to take the court. One report indicated all four players remained on the sidelines during the opening session. The tournament will be held Aug. 28-Sept. 11 in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

A Friday morning announcement by Argentine Basketball Federation president German Vaccaro, on the FIBA Americas official website, ended the suspense. An Argentine insurance company had agreed to become a sponsor of the national team and provide the insurance.

The insurance issue was complicated by the NBA's lockout of its players following expiration of its collective bargaining agreement with the players' union. Insurance typically provided by NBA teams for its players participating in FIBA-sanctioned competitions no longer was available, putting a much greater financial burden on the national federations."