Jazz mascot nets bat on court before game vs. Timberwolves
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — It took a bear — Jazz Bear — to catch a bat and leave the high-flying hijinks to the NBA players.
About an hour before Utah’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, a stray bat interrupted the pregame shooting routines of Jazz stars like Donovan Mitchell and Ricky Rubio, as it flew around the court in the Vivint Smart Home Arena.
The few thousand fans in the building took turns cheering and then groaning while watching the flying mammal zip around the arena and elude several security guards and an on-court employee armed with a net.
Jazz Bear took a break from entertaining the crowd by taking a few swings himself before finally capturing it — with nothing but net.
vs. pic.twitter.com/0xFYmy34M9
— Jazz Bear (@utahjazzbear) January 26, 2019
The proud mascot exited the court holding the big catch, as the fans erupted in wild cheers.
“After Utah’s 106-101 win, Mitchell expressed his fear, saying, “That was scary. I was not okay with that at all. I’m relieved the Bear got him because if he was still flying around, I wouldn’t have completed my warmup. I would have headed to the locker room.”
The whole thing quickly became a social media hit, and Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma appropriately tweeted : “Where is Manu when you need him.”
Of course, that refers to the former star of San Antonio Spurs, Manu Ginobili, who is famously known for hitting a bat to the hardwood and capturing it during a game against Sacramento on Halloween night in 2009.
http://twitter.com/kylekuzma/status/1088972630919544834
Where is Manu when you need him. https://t.co/JFlF7Kyr4C
— kuz (@kylekuzma) January 26, 2019
