The man behind the mascot of the Denver Nuggets, known for viral stunts and physically demanding slam dunks, is suing the NBA team’s parent company, claiming wrongful termination after a hip injury.
The man inside the suit playing “Rocky,” Drake Solomon, alleged in a lawsuit Wednesday that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment fired him in August 2024, months after he had hip replacement surgery, The Denver Post reported.
The lawsuit accuses the Nuggets of violating the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act through discrimination based on disability, retaliation and two claims of aiding and abetting unfair employment practices against Solomon’s supervisors. It asks for an unspecified amount of money.
“I grew up around it my entire life,” Solomon told 9News. He took on the role of Rocky from his father, Kenn, who wore the suit for three decades before retiring in 2021.
“I had a strong loyalty to this company since I was two weeks old on the court, and it was just heartbreaking, not just for me, but for my family as well,” he said.
Following his father’s retirement from the high-energy costume character role, Solomon said he was the only person invited to try out to play the beloved Rocky.
However, issues started to rise soon after taking on the physically demanding role. Solomon developed hip pain and was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, a disease caused by the loss of blood supply to the bone, according to the lawsuit.
Solomon underwent two surgeries to try and fix the issue, one in March 2023 and then a hip replacement in April 2024, according to the filing.
He was told there would be an open tryout for the position “regardless of the outcome” of his surgery — even though Solomon told his supervisors his doctors expected him to make a full recovery in a matter of months, the suit claims.
When Solomon returned to work on May 20, he was met with hostility, according to the lawsuit. Even though he performed the duties of his job that summer, management still held tryouts for the position ahead of the 2024-2025 season.
Solomon claims in the lawsuit that during auditions, he completed all the physical requirements — and even taught other applicants how to dunk in the Rocky costume.
He was fired soon after tryouts, and management did not provide a reason at the time, the lawsuit alleges. The NBA team’s parent company later claimed he was let go because he did not score first in the tryouts.
Solomon’s complaint also calls for a potential class action lawsuit, stemming from the severance agreement he was offered upon firing.
“It was not easy to go ahead with this because I love the Nuggets,” Solomon told the Colorado Sun. “They’ve been my whole life and my family. For things to end the way they did it was pretty heartbreaking.”
“We loved Rocky our entire lives,” he added. “We always looked at the Nuggets as a second family and Rocky as a second dad. For it to end so cold … it’s kind of like losing a family member. My dad was pretty devastated when he heard. He was the one that suggested I look into seeing what I can do to make some wrongs right.”
Solomon claims management offered the same severance agreement, which he claims is unlawful, or a similar one to several other employees.
The Denver Nuggets did not immediately respond to a request for comment fromThe Independent .
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