The Coyote is the official mascot of the San Antonio Spurs, a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). First introduced in 1983, he was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2007. [1]
The Coyote is the official mascot of the San Antonio Spurs, a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). First introduced in 1983, he was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2007. [1]
The Coyote was first introduced in public at a San Antonio Spurs game on April 13, 1983. [1] He's known for his slapstick comedy routine, including impromptu interactions with game officials during time-outs, rehearsed skits and dance numbers with the Silver Dancers (the Spurs cheerleading team), as well as for his trick filled antics, such as riding a unicycle, pulling his eyes off, dribbling a ball with his feet or spinning a ball on a pen. [1]
Outside of his presence at games the Coyote performs at over 400 community appearances per year, which is noted as being more than any other mascot in the NBA. [1] Over the years he has also been featured in numerous local San Antonio area TV commercials and appeared on national morning shows, including Live with Regis and Kathie Lee . [1]
The Coyote concept was created by Tim Derk, who also performed the role for the first 21 years — appearing in more than 1,100 games and making over 4,000 community appearances — before suffering a stroke that forced him to leave the job on February 13, 2004. [2] During his time as Coyote, Derk was credited with inventing the T-Shirt Cannon [3] Derk went on to be named Manager of Mascot Development by Spurs Sports & Entertainment six months later. [2]
The Coyote won several awards for his performances throughout the years. In 2006, he was named Best Mascot of the Year 2005 by the website Gameops.com. [4] In 2007, he was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame, in recognition of his hard work on and off the court. [1] In 2014 and 2020, he was named Best Mascot of the Year by his fellow mascots. [5]
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