We have a Spurs flag, and we already had a couple autographs on it, but needed a whole lot more if we wanted to do things proper. Due to the fact that we were practically the first people to arrive, I had good positioning to get all the autographs I asked for. Every player, except for one, obliged with autographs. There was a large latino influence in the people present that were seeking autographs. Several Argentina flags were present. Manu and the rest of the Argentina basketball team won the Gold Medal at the last Olympics, and with the Spurs being the returning champions, it was understandable that people wanted autographs, and even more specifically, Manu's.

As I had said before, each player was willing to sign autographs, with the exception of one. They would take their time and sign most things that got put in front of them - programs, hats, trading cards, team flags, basketballs, or even random pieces of paper. But, with all that I witnessed (and there wasn't many who could claim that they had a better seat to the autograph gaggle), Manu was clearly the most accomodating.

Each of the players would finish shooting around, then head back to the locker room to get ready for the game. As they go down the tunnel to head back to the locker room, they would stop to sign stuff. Well, Manu had finished shooting, and noticed a small group of people waving an Argentina flag near where he was shooting (opposite side of the court from where he was supposed to leave), and walked over to them. They were gushing over the fact that he came over to them, and he was kind enough to take pictures with them, and sign the stuff that they brought.

With hardly any notice, more people went over there and he continued to pose with them taking pictures, and signing stuff. Even more people went over, and he kept signing stuff. I'll admit that I was getting a little worried that when he got over to the somewhat official signing area that he wouldn't want to sign anything else. So, it was driving me nuts that he stayed over there signing stuff for all those people. He stayed over there for at least 10 minutes signing various things, and posing over and over again with all these people.

I couldn't have been more surprised when he came over to the side of the court we were on, on his way to the locker room, that he stopped and signed everything that people handed at him. He even signed some disposable diaper that somebody had on a doll (and I don't mean a cute kid…. litterally a children's doll). Again, he stood over and signed and took more pictures in our area for another 10 minutes. It was quite the site to see.

I mention all of this because it was an impressive act. I think he's an amazing man to take the time to do that sort of thing. Most of the guys who signed stuff did it for maybe a quarter of the time he was out there. Granted, Manu had the largest fan base there, but he could easily have just gone in. My brother and I were discussing how he's a great example of what we would love for celebrities to be like. He's got to know that he serves as a sort of ambassador for all the people from Argentina, or even Latin America. He's admirable in his style of play, and remarkable in his attitude towards his fans. I'm not going to go too much further into this, but I again wanted to say just how impressive it was to see such a display by him. Props to Manu for respecting his fans enough to know how much he means to them, and props again for signing our flag. Good on him. Go Spurs.