Denver Nuggets’ Mascot Rocky, Best in Colorado

One of my favorite things about the NBA is the sport goes beyond the play on the court. It’s a community. It’s a culture.

More than any other professional sport, you feel yourself getting involved with the player’s lives in and out of the arena. Maybe it’s because they don’t wear helmets. Maybe it’s because there are only 450 of them at a time and of that, only like 100 you have to focus on.

More than the players themselves, there are so many other basketball things to engulf your life in. NBA twitter is its own reality television show, Chuck and Shaq are the most relevant analysts, and new court logos require 4,000 word articles from Zach Lowe. Also, the summer league is a thing now. People flock to it as an experience.

For the true NBA diehards, even a team’s mascot must be evaluated. Denver’s got a good one in Rocky, the loveable mountain lion. This week, he got voted as Colorado’s best professional sports mascot by The Denver Post.

Rocky was born 25 years ago and has been a staple for Nuggets fans at home games. However, his attributes go even further. While he shows up at events all around the community supporting great causes, his real impact is in his shenanigans. We honor him, by looking at some of the best moments in recent history:

Rocky Takes out Young Football Player

Being around professional athletes all the time is going to leave you with a competitive chip on your shoulder. The free safety teaches the kids that nothing is given on the field, everything is earned.

Charles Barkley with the Knockout

Chuck admits that Rocky was his favorite mascot of his era. They had some great feuds back in the day and maybe we’ll see them star in the sequel of the Grudge Match.

Russell Westbrook Robs Rocky of Impressive Shot

First off, Rocky is super good at these half-court backwards shots. I went to a game and he made it. I was impressed.

Russell Westbrook is the perfect villain in this scenario because it is the perfect thing to make him mad. He gets annoyed by the media and random questions and seemingly everything else. It totally makes sense that mascots would grind his gears. Not sure what triggered his anger with Rocky specifically, but my guess is the altitude.

Dwight Howard Shaolin Showdown

Rocky’s patented move is raised hands leg kick and I’m guessing Howard was a purple belt as some point in his childhood. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this go further into a full on sumo throw down.

So, congrats to Rocky for his hard work and entertainment. I’m looking forward to seeing what antics are ahead of him. As Nuggets fans, we should appreciate getting to see one of the best in the business represent our town. After all, we have to cheer for something at Nuggets games right now.