Now it can be told -- several San Antonio Spurs players are so used to playing in humid gyms that they were not bothered at all by the air-conditioning malfunction that left Miami Heat star LeBron James cramping in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Manu Ginobili of Argentina said he's played in more humid gyms that he was not affected by what happened in Game 1. He told NY Post: "I played in Argentina in December and January and you won't believe what it is like to play there. Of course, it happened when I was 20 and I kind of forgot about it. But I played in hotter and more humid gyms and with people throwing stuff."
Aside from Ginobili, other international players on the Spurs roster like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw of France, Tiago Splitter of Brazil, and Marco Belinelli of Italy said they are all used to playing in more humid conditions.
Diaw, who grabbed 10 rebounds in the Finals opener, said he has played in basketball camps in Africa, where he played outside in the sun. "But, yeah, it's not the ideal condition to play Finals. But it was hard for both teams."
Parker said he felt like he was playing in the European Championship. "We never have AC in Europe."
This was vouched by Belinelli, who said: "The European Championship or many times in the summer when we were in training camp with the national team, we practiced in the gym [with] no [air conditioning] and it was really tough."
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