"Don't panic, Spurs fans. Fan fave Manu Ginobili isn't headed to Italy just yet, especially after tweaking his right ankle in a pickup game in Bahia Blanca, Argentina on Tuesday. But if the NBA lockout drags on long enough, the competitive urges that make Ginobili one of the world's best players and his fondness for an Italian city where he became a star of the Italian League are apt to get the better of him.

Speaking to reporters at Bahiense del Norte, the club where he began his basketball career more some 20 years ago, Ginobili acknowledged that he has fond memories of his days playing in the Italian League for a team in Bologna and that he would like to return there if circumstances dictate."