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The San Antonio Spurs are at home taking on the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves. After a win against Portland on Friday, San Antonio has to defend its home court in the second night of a back-to-back set versus Minnesota. Rookie Victor Wembanyama has been cleared to play so the home team might have a chance against the star-studded visitors.
Barely a minute after tip-off, action had to be stopped as a bat, seemingly emerging from nowhere, disrupted the play on the court. “The Coyote,” San Antonio’s fan-favorite mascot promptly came out to catch the unwanted winged visitor.
The mascot did his best to both trap the said creature and entertain the fans, players and game officials at the same time. He managed to get the job done with all the theatrics involved. The crowd at Frost Bank Center gave him a standing ovation.
Basketball fans who saw what had happened quickly reacted on X (formerly Twitter):
“A coyote mascot chasing a Bat during an NBA game?”
A bat or two have managed to disrupt San Antonio Spurs home games before. Saturday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves wasn’t the first time “The Coyote” had to get his net to chase after and catch a bat. On most occasions, he gets the job done. On some other nights, the bat just flew harmlessly up to the rafters and stayed there.
Spurs legend Manu Ginobili didn’t need a net to catch a bat in 2009
While “The Coyote” may need an oversized net to catch a bat, San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili incredibly used bare hands to get one. In 2009, the Silver and Black franchise hosted the Sacramento Kings at what was then known as the AT&T Center.
Like what happened on Saturday, the bat also came out to play in the first quarter of the Kings-Spurs game. San Antonio’s mascot chased after the winged visitor with his net but couldn’t get the job done. Ginobili came to the rescue by swatting at the animal with his bare hands then picked it up to hand it off to somebody.
The home crowd was stunned at what they had just seen. The Argentine was so nonchalant with what he did that he may have been a bat-catcher sometime in his life.
After the game, the Spurs legend admitted how dangerous his action was. He even took a vaccine for bat rabies. Coincidentally, Ginobili was at the Timberwolves game laughing his heart out as he watched the mascot do what must be part of his job description now.
