Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili won't be seeing action for at least a month after suffering a debilitating injury during San Antonio's 110-97 home win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.

The Argentinian dynamo was kneed in the testicles by Pelicans power forward Ryan Anderson with less than three minutes left in the game, per Yahoo Sports.

Anderson accidentally hit Manu in the groin area while trying to do a turn-around jump hook. Painful as it was, Ginobili's injury wasn't in vain as Anderson's awkward-looking shot attempt was whistled for an offensive foul.

The game was briefly paused after the collision to allow Tim Duncan and Spurs trainer Will Sevening to escort Ginobili to the team's locker room. Spurs big men David West and LaMarcus Aldridge wisecracked about the situation and thought Manu would be able to walk the pain off. Tony Parker, meanwhile, wasn't in the business of joking around.

"I don't want to joke with that," deadpanned the 33-year old Frenchman on short video posted Twitter. "It doesn't look good."

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was asked for an injury update on Ginobili right after the game. He said, "I have no clue. I haven't seen him. He wasn't in the locker room, I don't think. I don't know what the hell happened."

On Thursday, the Spurs organization announced that Ginobili had undergone testicular surgery and that he will require at least four weeks to recuperate.

This isn't the first time this has happened in the NBA. Injury analyst Jeff Stotts reported on Twitter that Dallas Mavericks beanpole Shawn Bradley and Seattle SuperSonics hotshot Detlef Schrempf have suffered the same kind of injury as well.

SB Nation pointed out that fiery New York Knicks shooting guard John Starks was sidelined for five days after having one testicle removed. Starks sustained testicular torsion during the 2001 NBA playoffs.

Ginobili's plight could be much worse than Starks since the Argentinian is projected to miss one month of NBA action. His absence is a major loss for the Spurs. He has been the team's number one offensive catalyst off the bench.

According to ESPN, the 38-year old Spurs veteran is playing less than 20 minutes a game this season, the lowest in his 14-year NBA career. That said, Ginobili doesn't seem to mind and has even relished in his new-found role.

At an age where most of NBA players have already retired, Ginobili is still averaging 10 points, three assists, three rebounds and one steal for a team that's destined to go deep into the playoffs this year.