Confessions of the Greatest Mascot in Sports

EPISODE 168: Getting decked by Charles Barkley.

For 33 years, the longest-tenured mascot in NBA history — the spirit animal of the Denver Nuggets, Mascot Hall of Famer, and documented enemy of multiple Basketball Hall of Famers — wasn’t allowed to say a single word.

These were the rules governing Rocky the Mountain Lion.

And so his uniquely wild acrobatics — from his reverse half-court shots to pranks on stilts to parkouring to the very top of the Pepsi Center — spoke for him.

But the initial spark for this episode wasn’t one of Rocky’s death-defying maneuvers.

It was, in fact, an unforgettably bizarre and incredibly viral example of what looked to be the opposite. (As you’ll see.)

All of which is to say that for a very long time, I’ve wanted to find out the secret life of the human being who was inside that suit, all along.

And Kenn Solomon, it turns out, doesn’t see Rocky as a character. Or a job.

But as his best friend.

DKN/YOUTUBE SPOILER ALERTS:

Unconsciously,

Pablo