{"id":339610,"date":"2026-06-17T08:48:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339610\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T08:48:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:48:47","slug":"peta-proposes-changing-spurs-team-name-to-animal-friendly-alternative-the-san-antonio-spores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339610\/","title":{"rendered":"PETA proposes changing Spurs’ team name to ‘animal-friendly’ alternative: the San Antonio Spores"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StephonStephon Castle takes the ball up the court. Credit: Instagram \/ @spurs<\/p>\n

Animal welfare group PETA shared an open letter to Spurs Managing Partner Peter J. Holt on Tuesday, asking him to change the team name to something more animal friendly.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s proposed alternative? The San Antonio Spores.<\/p>\n

\u201cDitching a name that celebrates a device designed to deliver pain in favor of fandom for fungi would be a slam-dunk,\u201d PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement. \u201cPETA is ready to help San Antonio lead the league in compassion with an animal-friendly mycelial makeover.\u201d<\/p>\n

The activist group shared a copy of its letter to Holt with the Current. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs you look ahead, might we suggest a rebrand with a team name that doesn\u2019t celebrate a metal object that is used to torment animals?\u201d the letter read. \u201cA name like the San Antonio\u00a0Spores\u00a0could\u00a0mushroom\u00a0into a national conversation and encourage healthy eating.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter, rife with mushroom and basketball puns, continued its pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cTimes have changed, and no longer promoting the use of spurs is the\u00a0morel\u00a0thing to do, since spurs can be seen as glorifying the suffering of animals abused in rodeos, who endure fear and trauma, torn muscles, broken bones, and even fatal injuries,\u201d the missive continued. <\/p>\n

PETA, which purports to have more than 300,000 members in Texas, said that if Holt agrees, it would be happy to provide new jerseys to the entire team.<\/p>\n

The group even mocked up a proposed jersey rebrand, featuring Texas\u2019 state mushroom, the\u00a0Chorioactis geaste.<\/p>\n

Sorry, but we\u2019ve seen The Last of Us, and that will be a no from us, dawg.<\/p>\n

\"\"PETA shared a mockup of its proposed redesign of the Spurs jersey in its open letter to Peter Holt. Credit: PETA<\/p>\n

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