Denver Nuggets Being Sued By Their Own Second-Generation Mascot

The Denver Nuggets are being sued by someone, or you could argue something, within their own franchise.

Rocky, the team mascot, has officially filed a lawsuit against the Nuggets’ owner, with the man inside the suit, Drake Solomon, alleging that he was fired after taking time off to recover from a hip injury. Solomon claims that his firing is in violation of disability protection laws.

The 31-year-old Solomon is seeking unspecified damages from Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Nuggets along with the Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Rams, and Arsenal, among other teams.

Solomon is a second-generation mascot as the son of the man who was the original Rocky for the Nuggets over 30 years ago. The younger Solomon took over the role of Rocky in 2021, and during the 2022-23 season was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, a condition that causes bone tissue to die as a result of damage to blood vessels and a lack of blood supply.

According to the Colorado Sun, Solomon underwent surgery before returning to the mascot suit 10 days later. During the 2023-24 season, doctors advised him to have hip replacement surgery, which is when Solomon claims the situation became “hostile.”

When Solomon told his supervisors about the need for surgery, they said they would “be holding tryouts for his position due to his record of impairment and their lack of confidence in his health.”

Solomon recovered from the hip replacement quickly, but returned to a “hostile work environment.” The Nuggets went forward with holding tryouts for a replacement because he had “burned them last time,” the lawsuit states.

The team fired Solomon after the tryouts in August 2024. The termination violated his rights under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, the lawsuit alleges.

Solomon’s attorney, Siddhartha Rathod, likened the termination to firing a person for going on maternity leave.