Ginobili Swats Bat; Spurs Defeat Kings

Are the two things mentioned in the title above related to each other? I say "Why not?"

A bat flew around the AT&T Center on Halloween during a game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Sacramento Kings. You may even see that if flew above the Kings' Kevin Martin as he attempted a shot in the video below.

Later on, Manu Ginobili decided enough was enough. He wacked the bat and potentially rescued thousands of people in the stadium from a bat attack.



Here is another video, this time with a hometown-announcer slant.


Here are some quotes from the Spurs after the game regarding Manu's bat "heroics."

From teammate Tony Parker said: "That was amazing. The legend continues with Manu. Unbelievable. ... He's always doing crazy stuff."
Coach Gregg Popovich said, "The drummer that he marches to sometimes is a little bit different. He never ceases to amaze me and he just did it again. The legend grows. It's incredible on Halloween night. You would call someone a liar if they told you that story."
Manu was less impressed with himself. "When you can't dunk anymore, you have to find a way to make it into the news," he said. "So that's what I did. I grabbed a bat. I didn't think it was a big deal."

The fallout from the incident, however, was not all good. Gino had to get a battery of rabies shots, just in case the bat was rabid. Some organization that squawks loudly to get attention vehemently defends animals' rights said that Manu was a small man-u, even though he is 6'6".

And this is Manu's comment from his Facebook page:

Just wanted to give you guys an update on the bat situation. As many of you already know, it wasn't a great idea. Not only for the fact that bats are great part of the ecosystem, but also, because some carry rabies, which is an incurable disease. That's why I had to get vaccinated today (and it wasn't just one shot!).
Only 0.5% to 3% of the bat populations carry the disease, but if you can't find the animal, it's not recommended to take any risks, it can kill you! Since after the incident, the usher took it outside and the bat flew away (not lying!), there was no way of knowing if he was infected or not, so I had to do the safe thing.
Finally, please, don't do it at home or anywhere, avoid contact with bats, skunks, raccoons, rats and animals like that.