In what is likely one of the first changes for the NBA offseason, Benny the Bull, the Chicago Bulls mascot is retiring June 30.

Well, the fuzzy, comical character will still be around in some form, but Barry Anderson, the man beneath the horns for the last 12 years is leaving.

"After 12 incredible years, it's come time for me to explore this world, this life, without my fuzzy red friend," Anderson wrote on Facebook Friday, according to the Chicago Tribune. "In what's been an impossibly difficult choice to make, I've decided that June 30th will be my final day at the Chicago Bulls, where my heart will forever live."

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As Benny the Bull, Anderson earned a NBA mascot of the year honors in 2015. The Bulls offered Anderson a contract, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Anderson replaced Dan LeMonnier as the mascot in 2004 when the style of the costume also changed.

The team said the mascot will return in some form.

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8/26/17 - Atlanta, GA - Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Sandra Deal, members of the King family, and Rep. Calvin Smyre,  were on hand for unveiling of the first statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the statehouse grounds, more than three years after Gov. Nathan Deal first announced the project.  During the hour-long ceremony leading to the unveiling of the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol on Monday, many speakers, including Gov. Nathan Deal, spoke of King's biography. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of King's famed "I Have Dream" speech. BOB ANDRES  /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Bob Andres