Manu Ginobili’s career has been dotted by many memorable plays and moments.
He’s been a part of three NBA championship teams, becoming arguably the most popular player in the history of the franchise. Since his arrival in 2002, Spurs Nation has become captivated by the gritty Ginobili’s work ethic and basketball ability.
But arguably his top memory as a Spur came for an instinctive act that happened during a break in play during the game on Halloween night in 2009.
Late in the first period of a game against Sacramento, a Mexican freetail bat swooped into the AT&T Center and descended onto the court. Players from both teams scattered and game officials halted play. The bat circled the arena and left before returning to dive-bomb the action on the court again.
Ginobili didn’t need a clove of garlic or a crucifix to take care of the menacing creature. With a looping lunge on his left hand, he knocked the beast out of the air.
He then carried the bat off the court in his palm to thunderous cheers from the AT&T Center crowd of 16,966.
As the theme to “Batman” blared across the arena, players on both the Spurs and Kings applauded Ginobili. After receiving treatment from Spurs trainer Will Sevening, Ginobili reurned to the court and the game continued.
The game on the court was actually secondary to Ginobili’s early bat snatching. Tony Parker notched 24 points and aeven assists, Richard Jefferson added 21 and Ginobili scored 13 points off the bench to lead the Spurs’ 113-94 victory. Kevin Martin scored a game-high 29 points for the Kings.
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