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 prior to Utah’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, a stray bat disrupted the pregame shooting routines of Jazz stars like Donovan Mitchell and Ricky Rubio. The incident occurred within the Vivint Smart Home Arena, as the bat erratically flew around the court.
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 strolled off the court with the big catch, to the wild cheers of the fans.
“Mitchell admitted he found the incident terrifying, following Utah’s 106-101 win. “I was absolutely not okay with that. I’m relieved the Bear managed to catch him because otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to complete my warmup. If he was still flying around, I would’ve retreated to the locker room,” he said.
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 is ex-San Antonio Spurs star, Manu Ginobili, who is renowned for swatting a bat onto 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
