Last night, the Brooklyn Nets showed off their dark side, ganging up on Detroit Pistons mascot Hooper and taking him down before the game with a barrage of punches and kicks.
But this isn’t the first time the Nets have shown their anti-mascot side. They have a pattern of mascot brutality In the heat of the NBA playoffs last season, the team took down Chicago Bulls Benny the Bull heading into Game 4 of the first round in similar fashion:
Is this a pattern of mascot destruction? What can be done? Is anyone safe? (Well, the Toronto Raptors inflatable mascot is. If the Nets try anything on him he’ll just eat them up.)
The NBA hasn’t released advanced stats on mascot scuffles yet, but it’s worth noting that the Nets are 0-2 in games when they beat up a mascot pregame. Maybe there’s just much energy exhausted on sending a message to mascots leaguewide.
