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Gregg Popovich offers perfectly Poppish reaction to Manu Ginobili making practice hours after son's birth

Gregg Popovich offers perfectly Poppish reaction to Manu Ginobili making practice hours after son's birth

It's been a hectic 24 hours for Manu Ginobili, but I'm willing to bet he's not too bummed out about it. Hours after putting the finishing touches on a pretty good day of work on Sunday — 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal in 31-plus minutes of work to help his San Antonio Spurs hold off the Dallas Mavericks, 90-85, to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven first-round Western Conference playoff series — Ginobili was at the hospital. In something of a change of pace for "El Contusíon," though, he wasn't the patient, and the reason for this particular visit was pretty great:

Just one problem, though: the #SuperHappyDad didn't get very much time to spend with wife Many. (Yes, Manu Ginobili's wife is Many Ginobili, which is amazing.) Even for fathers of newborns, the playoffs are the playoffs, and Manu had to head to practice ... where he received a pretty perfect response to his role in his family's growth from head coach Gregg Popovich, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News:

“Woke up at 4:45,” [Ginobili] said. “Get ready. Pack. Go to the clinic and wait for a couple hours and witness a C-section. I held that baby as long as I could and then down here. Basically that was it.”

The timing couldn’t have been better. Not only did little Luca arrive well before Wednesday’s Game 2, Ginobili still made it to practice.

“He went in there this morning and a half hour later he was back at practice. Pretty efficient guy,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I told him, ‘Manu, you didn’t do anything. Your wife is efficient. You’re not efficient. You didn’t do anything.’”

I guess Pop used up all his sweetness between the third and fourth quarters on Sunday.

Luckily for Manu, the Spurs don't play again until Game 2 on Wednesday night, so he'll have a couple of days to spend his wife, newborn son and two older boys, Dante and Nicola. Here's hoping the crafty veteran doesn't try to skip out on too many diaper changes or late-night soothings, though. Hearing "You didn't do anything" from Pop is one thing, but hearing it from your wife is a whole 'nother ballgame.

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Dan Devine

is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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