Ex-Nuggets Mascot Sues Team Owner Over Workplace Discrimination

Drake Solomon, a performer who previously served as the Nuggets' mascot, Rocky, is suing team owner Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE), alleging "unlawful disability-based discrimination and termination." A lawsuit filed in Denver District Court on Tuesday claims Solomon's rights were violated under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.

Solomon took over the role of Rocky in 2021, following in the footsteps of his father, Kenn, who was the Nuggets mascot for three decades. In an interview with the Scripps News Group, Drake Solomon said he "lived and breathed the Nuggets and Rocky" growing up, and that "it was really awesome to learn from [his father] and watch him and really study him."

"I still love the Nuggets," he said. "My family still loves the Nuggets dearly. They're everything to us. So it's nothing against the Nuggets... [The lawsuit is] just about right and wrong."

According to the lawsuit, Solomon was diagnosed with avascular necrosis (AVN) and underwent surgery during the 2022-23 NBA season. Kenn Solomon came out of retirement to fill in as Rocky during the Nuggets' championship run in 2023.

"The first surgery took, but it just didn't last as long as we hoped," he explained. "And eventually, it got worse and worse and worse."

His doctors recommended a total hip replacement — a surgery he had in the spring of 2024. Solomon said he returned to work two months later, well ahead of his six-month expectation.

"I came back very excited, and my doctors were very excited for me," he said.

The lawsuit alleges Solomon "returned to a hostile work environment and confirmation that Defendants would still be conducting try-outs for his position because he had 'burned them last time.'"

"When I'm going through the surgeries, when I'm recovering, a lot of people make fun of my limp, which I couldn't control," he said. "And some made fun of me, made jokes about being a Make-A-Wish kid... With how serious this was and how scared I was for my job, and wanting to keep Rocky going, it just wasn't funny."

The suit claims Kenn Solomon was never asked to try out during his time with the team, and that Drake Solomon was the only person invited to try out for the job in 2021. It claims he was only asked to try out after it was known that he needed a second surgery.

Solomon was fired in August 2024, after participating in tryouts for Rocky before the 2024-25 NBA season, according to the suit. Solomon’s complaint could become a class-action lawsuit. It alleges that the severance agreement KSE offered Solomon violated the Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights (POWR) Act, because it didn't include the proper protections afforded to employees.

Zach Bye, sports radio host on 104.3 The Fan in Denver, acknowledged that Solomon could have a case, but he also noted that Rocky's performance has not been at the high level fans are accustomed to seeing.

"The performance just wasn't the same, from the creativity and the stunts to his infamous backwards shot," he said in comparing Drake's time as Rocky to his father's long run. "For those who are close to the team and in the building regularly, it was mostly understood that the performance had slipped.

"He could have a legitimate [legal] case coming from his side of the story, but also I would acknowledge underneath that same umbrella that the performance also wasn't the same, and he is in a performance-based business."

Solomon didn't argue that point.

"I would probably think the same, too, right off the bat," he said. "But with the way medicine is now and how much it's improved, and fortunately for my age, the hip replacement was like nothing. It was such a quick recovery, I feel brand new. I'm able to perform, and I'm still pursuing a job in entertainment or mascotting, because I know I can still do those things, and I have shown to do those things still."

The Scripps News Group asked Kroenke Sports & Entertainment for an interview to get answers and address the lawsuit's allegations, but the request was declined, given its "both a legal and personnel matter." This story was originally published by Ryan Fish with the Scripps News Group station in Denver.