Less than a day after winning the top honor in NBA mascotdom, the Utah Jazz’s own Bear was back at work, making a difference in the community.
Let it never be said that the Utah Jazz’s mascot, Jazz Bear, rests on his furry laurels.
On Monday afternoon, Bear was officially recognized (once again) as the best in the business of making hoops fans’ in-arena experience a great one. On Tuesday morning, he was helping to reward kids for walking and/or biking to school and staying healthy, active and safe in the process.
Bear joined a group of students from Eagle Valley Elementary School in Eagle Mountain, UT less than 24 hours after being announced as the NBA’s Mascot of the Year for the 2017-18 season for breakfast, after which he walked the kids to school.
The event was put together for kids who participated in the Utah Department of Transportation’s Spring Walk N’ Win program. To qualify, kids downloaded UDOT’s Walking School Bus app, then used it to log each completed walk or bike ride to school.
Dozens of students were later chosen as winners for the Bear walk.
According to the Provo Daily Herald, there are currently more than 350 active walking groups using the Walking School Bus app across the state.
Of course, this is just one of a litany of community efforts Bear is involved in. On the same day he was honored, a video of Bear encouraging motorists not to drive like an ape debuted on YouTube.
Full disclosure: I kind of want to drive like an ape now.
All joking aside, though, Bear is in a class all his own. Dating back to his first year as the Jazz’s mascot in 1994, Bear has given 15,000-plus hours of assistance in the community for more than 300 community organizations, raising over $1 million in the process.
Although he’s now a three-time NBA MOTY and was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame back in 2006, those numbers tell the tale of what Jazz Bear is all about just as much as all the 20-foot ladders he’s climbed or trampoline dunks he’s thrown down.
Bear’s impact cannot be overstated. His community initiative, Bear Hugs for Kids, is at the forefront of efforts to improve life for a myriad of people throughout the intermountain region.
If you ask me, that puts him right up there with the likes of Karl Malone, John Stockton, Donovan Mitchell and Jerry Sloan as one of the most important and influential figures in Jazz history.
Simply put, he’s a bear about town…in the best possible way.