Denver Nuggets mascot Rocky entertains the crowd during a Nuggets-Blazers game at Ball Arena in 2016. (John Leyba/The Denver Post)
Drake Solomon, the scion of a mascot family who played the Denver Nuggets’ Rocky until losing a tryout last year, sued the team’s owners Tuesday for disability discrimination.
Solomon, 32, is the son of Kenn Solomon, who became the first Rocky in 1990, transformed the mountain lion into a taunting and trampoline-dunking fan favorite, and inspired his kids to follow in his oversized shoes. Another son, Garett, performs as Detroit Pistons mascot Hooper.
So, when Kenn Solomon retired in 2021, Drake Solomon was the only person invited to try out for the role of Rocky, he says in this week’s lawsuit. But after a year, the younger Solomon was hurting. Doctors diagnosed him with a condition that erodes bone tissue in the hips.
One surgery in early 2023 didn’t resolve the problem, so Solomon told his bosses in early 2024 that he would need to go under the knife again, this time for a full hip replacement.
“We will hold the tryout again for Rocky,” Craig Dzaman, the Nuggets’ director of game presentation, reportedly told Solomon. “Because we can’t risk…we just can’t risk having a mascot coming off a major hip surgery and not knowing how it’s going to perform.”
That tryout would be the first serious contest for the role of Rocky since 1990, when Kenn Solomon beat out four other wannabe mascots. Meanwhile, Drake Solomon’s hip replacement was a success, he recalls, allowing him to do offseason appearances last summer.
Solomon says he performed well at the August 2024 tryout and even showed other applicants how to safely dunk a basketball while wearing the Rocky outfit. But the team chose someone else whose shooting was more accurate that day, according to Solomon’s lawsuit.
That lawsuit accuses Kroenke Sports and Entertainment of firing Solomon because of a disability — his hip condition — in violation of state anti-discrimination laws. Two Nuggets employees who judged the tryout, Dzaman and Steve Johnston, are also defendants.
“Defendants’ decision to hold tryouts based on Mr. Solomon’s record of disability and then fire Mr. Solomon after he returned to work violated (his) rights,” the lawsuit alleges.
Nuggets spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday or Wednesday.
Solomon’s attorney, Virginia Butler with the Denver civil rights firm Rathod Mohamedbhai, initially agreed to arrange an interview with him Wednesday but later declined.
Solomon’s lawsuit offers a glimpse into Rocky’s compensation. He says he received $70,000 base salary, plus appearance fees that average $15,000 to $20,000 annually. That appears to refute past news reports which claimed, without evidence, that Rocky’s human made $600,000. (Kenn Solomon was initially paid just $26,500 to play Rocky in 1990).
The lawsuit also confirms a Westword investigation that reported Kenn Solomon secretly came out of retirement to play the mascot in early 2023 due to his son’s condition.
Denver Nuggets mascot Rocky entertains the crowd during a Nuggets-Blazers game at Ball Arena in 2016. (John Leyba/The Denver Post)
Drake Solomon, the scion of a mascot family who played the Denver Nuggets’ Rocky until losing a tryout last year, sued the team’s owners Tuesday for disability discrimination.
Solomon, 32, is the son of Kenn Solomon, who became the first Rocky in 1990, transformed the mountain lion into a taunting and trampoline-dunking fan favorite, and inspired his kids to follow in his oversized shoes. Another son, Garett, performs as Detroit Pistons mascot Hooper.
So, when Kenn Solomon retired in 2021, Drake Solomon was the only person invited to try out for the role of Rocky, he says in this week’s lawsuit. But after a year, the younger Solomon was hurting. Doctors diagnosed him with a condition that erodes bone tissue in the hips.
One surgery in early 2023 didn’t resolve the problem, so Solomon told his bosses in early 2024 that he would need to go under the knife again, this time for a full hip replacement.
“We will hold the tryout again for Rocky,” Craig Dzaman, the Nuggets’ director of game presentation, reportedly told Solomon. “Because we can’t risk…we just can’t risk having a mascot coming off a major hip surgery and not knowing how it’s going to perform.”
That tryout would be the first serious contest for the role of Rocky since 1990, when Kenn Solomon beat out four other wannabe mascots. Meanwhile, Drake Solomon’s hip replacement was a success, he recalls, allowing him to do offseason appearances last summer.
Solomon says he performed well at the August 2024 tryout and even showed other applicants how to safely dunk a basketball while wearing the Rocky outfit. But the team chose someone else whose shooting was more accurate that day, according to Solomon’s lawsuit.
That lawsuit accuses Kroenke Sports and Entertainment of firing Solomon because of a disability — his hip condition — in violation of state anti-discrimination laws. Two Nuggets employees who judged the tryout, Dzaman and Steve Johnston, are also defendants.
“Defendants’ decision to hold tryouts based on Mr. Solomon’s record of disability and then fire Mr. Solomon after he returned to work violated (his) rights,” the lawsuit alleges.
Nuggets spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday or Wednesday.
Solomon’s attorney, Virginia Butler with the Denver civil rights firm Rathod Mohamedbhai, initially agreed to arrange an interview with him Wednesday but later declined.
Solomon’s lawsuit offers a glimpse into Rocky’s compensation. He says he received $70,000 base salary, plus appearance fees that average $15,000 to $20,000 annually. That appears to refute past news reports which claimed, without evidence, that Rocky’s human made $600,000. (Kenn Solomon was initially paid just $26,500 to play Rocky in 1990).
The lawsuit also confirms a Westword investigation that reported Kenn Solomon secretly came out of retirement to play the mascot in early 2023 due to his son’s condition.
