Pablo Torre Finds Out
The Secret Life of the Greatest Mascot in Sports
Fri, 01 Nov
From Default Workspace • No contributors
For 33 years, he was paid by the Denver Nuggets not to speak but to entertain — with unparalleled vitality and virality — as Rocky the Mountain Lion. Now, Kenn Solomon breaks his silence, on the bloody, back-breaking work of a very private profession. Plus: Rocky's flu game, his beef with Russell Westbrook... and what it feels like to get knocked unconscious by Charles Barkley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Ken Solomon and what did he do for 33 years?
Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what this sound is.
I broke my back one time doing a dunk. Right after this ad.
You're listening to DraftKings Network. So there are some episodes, Ken, that I've been wanting to do forever since before the show launched. And this is one of them. I've been chasing you. You know this. I want people to appreciate this. I've been chasing you for a while. It's been over a year, yeah.
But I guess for people who don't know your alter ego, Ken Solomon, thank you for being here in studio, by the way. My pleasure. How do you describe what you did for 33 years?
I told people for a long time that I play dress-up for a living. I just found, by the way, the other day, I was going through some boxes, I found my first credential. It says, Ken Solomon, entertainment guy. I just made stuff up all the time. I was having fun.
That's all technically accurate. Yeah. And yet wildly insufficient for why I've been chasing you for a year.
There was a reason why I was paid not to speak for 33 years.
At what point do you reveal your true alter ego? Right now. I'm going to workshop your cocktail party response to, hey, what do you do? You were the greatest mascot in sports. Wow. Let alone the longest tenured mascot in the NBA, let alone the most athletic, the most memorable, the guy whose highlight reel is as good as any players. What was your alter ego's name? Rocky. Rocky.
So I just got to jump in here to point out that the presently calm voice of Ken Solomon does belie the wildly kinetic absurdity of his alter ego, Rocky the Mountain Lion. The spirit animal of the Denver Nuggets and mascot Hall of Famer and documented enemy, by the way, of multiple basketball Hall of Famers. And Rocky, of course, has never uttered a single word
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Chapter 2: Why was Rocky the Mountain Lion a mute mascot?
Oh, they doubted. They doubted your scouting report having just gone through this very unique bonding ritual.
Yeah. With Charles Barkley. I said, no, no, no, no. You don't understand. I absolutely know he will come out. He will punch me. He will do something. There will be an altercation and I'll take it.
Round one. Charles quickly drops Rocky to the hardwood. Who said anything about a fair fight?
Sure enough, he walks out, jumps up in the air. Boom. Hits me in the face. I turn like a tree going down. Wham!
You are so thrilled recounting the story of how Charles Barkley kept punching you in the face.
Oh, it was on after that. I mean, like literally he would stop in my room after that. You know, game after game, he's, what are we doing tonight?
Has any other player embraced your calling the way that Barkley did?
Shaq was great. I was at the Hall of Game Awards. The Hall of Game Awards by Cartoon Network. I was up for most awesome mascot. So I was on stage with he and Nick Cannon. In California. An incredible Mad Lib so far. And there was, you know, there was all kinds of stuff on, the stage was built for, there was, you know, bicycles and there was a, you know, foam pit.
And when I won, I ran over and I jumped in Shaq's arms and I said, throw me in the pit. Throw me in the pit. He's like, what? Throw me in the pit. I'm being held underneath my armpits and he tosses me like I was a little kid. I literally giggled as I'm flying through the air. It was a flashback of when my dad would throw me in the pool.
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