The man behind the mascot Utah Jazz was fired a week before the 25th season

The man behind Jazz Bear, the title's mascot of the year, was fired after nearly a quarter of a century of team presence due to a "break" with the organization, according to numerous Utah reports .

The scale of this breakup is unclear, according to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News, but Jon Absey has been the protagonist of one of the NBA's most iconic mascots since Jazz Bear's debut, 24 years ago. The Jazz did not mention Absey specifically, but confirmed his ouster, warning the media that a mysterious new person would be inside the Jazz Bear costume when Utah will host the Golden State Warriors at the opening match at home Friday.

"Jazz Bear will remain one of the most iconic mascots in the NBA," said a spokesman for Jazz in a statement. "Out of respect for his character, which is distinct from any employee associated with him, we have never spoken of his identity. We do not discuss individual personnel matters. "

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "For its part, Absey said many local television electrical outlets that he was not fired, but that he resigned. "data-reactid =" 25 "> For its part, Absey said many local television electrical outlets that he was not fired, but left.

Absey was in uniform as a Jazz Bear for the introduction of the mascot, recalling snowshoes on November 1, 1994, in a move now banned by the NBA, according to the Deseret News. The oldest mascot in the NBA, he has played in more than 800 games, winning the mascot of the year five times, including last season, when he also won the Leadership and Best Award. video at the NBA Mascot conference, in the Salt Lake Tribune. Absey was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2006.

He was probably best known for sliding down the aisles of the Vivint Smart Home Arena and dumping a seemingly endless amount of Silly String on opposing fans. His biggest gag, however, was to level the fans who ran on the ground and attacked them without mercy as the bears supposed:

He arranged with the referees and sprayed CO2 on the back of the guest. He jumped through circles of fire, played pianos filled with fireworks and climbed on Karl Malone's motorcycle on the floor of the arena. In an interview with the Deseret News in 2010, Absey said that because of his performance, he had bone spurs on both ankles, had broken the big toe, had ripped him off right calf, was torn the right knee, was torn both hamstrings, had undergone a hernia and a back surgery. torn tendons in both fingers, blew both purses and required stitches.

"If I look back over the years I've been Bear, I'm really grateful to have such a job, and I'm happy to be able to take a character and give back to the community and the fans who gave it. a lot for us, "said Absey in this interview. "I only hope that when I'm done, I'll be happy to know that I may have changed the lives of some children through the charity work we've done."

Whoever takes Friday has big paws to fill. Jazz Bear is dead, long live Jazz Bear.

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<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Send an email to [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach"data-reactid =" 38 ">Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Send an email to [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach

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