He's not retired yet, like former teammate TIM DUNCAN, but MANU GINOBILI is in the twilight of his career, and gets the proper sports profile treatment from in this wonderfully reported piece. There's a 30-page slideshow of fun tidbits in the profile, but my favorite parts are the anecdotes about how GINOBILI ended up convincing GREGG POPOVICH to let him play his own way... Speaking of individuality, find out what makes DEANDRE HOPKINS different from every other receiver in the NFL... What are the pros and cons of an OLYMPIC athlete choosing to go pro instead of attending college? There isn't a clear answer, but we know one thing: there's a very brief window for a lot of these athletes to make money... We lost JOHN SAUNDERS on Wednesday, who by all accounts was a great broadcaster but an even better person. Even though he was one of the best at what he did, SAUNDERS never had an ego... Remember when TEAM USA almost lost to AUSTRALIA in basketball on WEDNESDAY? This is how Australia found its basketball culture... The NBA SCHEDULE is out. If you only care about when KEVIN DURANT will return to OKLAHOMA CITY as a member of the GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS, it's FEB. 11... Are you listening to ESPN's new longform podcast project PIN/KINGS? If not, you should be... FRIDAY is ALEX RODRIGUEZ's retirement day. I wonder if he pitched a retirement piece to DEREK JETER at THE PLAYERS' TRIBUNE. Maybe not.