In the second game of the finals, the Nuggets mascot Rocky lion and Barkley exchanged jerseys on the field. Rocky lion pretended to play with it for a few times, suddenly threw away the No. 34 shirt of the Sun, grabbed back his clothes, threw it on Barkley’s face, and quickly fled after hitting a set of combined punches, barkley was left with a smile.
Rocky lion must have heard this proverb-it is not too late for a gentleman to avenge. 28 years ago, Barkley took the rocky lion with a left swing. After that, he almost saw him fight once, and every time he could abuse new tricks.
28 years later, Rocky lion finally found his face. Surprisingly, the actor of rocky Lion was Ken Solomon of that year.
What is more surprising than service length in 31 is Solomon’s salary. Although the Nuggets never won the championship, Loki lion is the mascot with the highest income in NBA, the annual salary of 625000 dollars (equivalent to 462 + million yuan), almost 10 times the average level. After the exposure of rocky Lion’s salary, many American netizens broke the defense for this. Some people specially made a comparative list of annual salaries: Cardiologist 354000, anesthesiologist 331000, surgeon 297000, there are 94 NBA players below 625000.
A Twitter user wrote like this: “I have modified my career plan: first, learning programming; Second, learning to complete the trampoline dunk with animal headgear.” Of course, Solomon didn’t just rely on trampoline dunking for high salary. Like many successful people in other fields, he seized the opportunity of the times through his personal efforts.
In the summer of 1990, Ken Solomon, who was about to graduate from college, moved to Denver for an internship in Rocky Mountain News. He used his spare time to track the Nuggets and asked them if they had any plans to introduce mascots. Carl hilt, the president of nuggets, invited Solomon to listen to his story about his mascot in high school and college.
“At first they might have been perfunctory to me,” Solomon said. “After all, they didn’t have a mascot yet and didn’t even seriously consider this issue.”
Tim Levick, the chairman of the Nuggets, thought this was an opportunity. At that time, the gorilla of the Sun had become famous. The manager of the entertainment circle realized that the humorous performance of the mascot might attract more fans with children. Levick joined the Denver Media to launch a competition to collect the ideas of mascots. The image of a Colorado mountain lion stood out from many entries. Then the winner completed the concept of mascots, design and costume production, and also created the story of Rocky lion growing lightning tail.
The rocky Lion was selected, and the Nuggets began to recruit actors for auditions. From the moment Ken Solomon appeared on the stage, the audition was actually over. Denver media commented like this: “He is the only guy living in the body of rocky lion.” Solomon recalled: “They finally had a tryout and I won. That autumn, I went back to school, ended everything, and then went back to Denver.”
On December 15, 1990, the Nuggets played against the sun at home. Rocky lion made its debut for the first time. The Denver Post recorded Solomon’s performance: “Rocky lion was in black with yellow lightning printed on it, following the melody of soul man, he performed a difficult gymnastics movement and flew over the heads of three caddies. Although he landed on the ground, he succeeded.” Carl Hill said publicly in an interview with Washington Post that Loki would become the future star of this industry.
Solomon drew inspiration from other mascots, TV commercials and “crazy ideas in the shower”. The shooting that excited several generations of Nuggets fans was soon born. “Creativity belongs to Tim Levick.” Solomon said, “I have tried half-time shots before, but they are all aimed at RIM. One day, revik appeared on the court, and he asked me, ‘Buddy, why don’t you back to rim and try? ‘I thought, he is right. It was a challenge at the beginning and became popular later. Now it has its own vitality.”
The last pause in the fourth quarter of the home game, Rocky lion will perform this super shot, the reason why this action is popular, not only is it difficult-Rocky lion sometimes stands on the ladder-more importantly, he has hit many times. When the football superstar Von Miller hit the scene, he shouted excitedly at the rocky lion: “This is much harder than it looks.”
In addition to performance, mascots need to interact with players and audiences to enliven the atmosphere. According to Denver media, Rocky lion is actually an asshole. He likes to squeeze among couples, push children around, throw cakes on the faces of the fans, and occasionally provoke players, therefore, they are often booed.
“Just like a magician can’t reveal his secrets, I can’t say too much.” Solomon said, “I like to hear people’s voices. Although half of them are boos, the boos in the plan are the best, even better than cheers.”
Solomon was well aware of the value of being in the same frame as a superstar. In the 2003 All-Star new show, he squeezed his ass between James and Anthony. After several punches, he hooked up with two new stars. At the first match, Solomon ran to O’Neal’s wife again to be attentive, beating his shoulders and pinching his back. Until O’Neal frowned not far away, he raised his hands and left backwards.
As for the boxing match with Barkley, in Solomon’s words, everything was entertainment, and they had no grudge at all. Each “beating” increased their exposure rate. In the last game of Barkley’s career, Solomon also made a special trip to Houston. After the two shook hands with friends, Barkley gave him another punch secretly.
In the summer of 2001, Solomon’s contract expired, and the media joked that he was the biggest “free agent” of the Nuggets “. Solomon sought a multi-year contract with an annual salary of 150000 dollars. Several NBA teams extended olive branches, but he only wanted to stay in Denver. “You can say I am old-fashioned and old-fashioned, but I always hope to spend my whole career in a team.” Solomon said, “Denver is my home and I never want to leave. Of course, my contract expires. But I don’t talk about details, because I don’t like to use newspapers to negotiate.”
Solomon stayed as he wished and was selected into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2012, Solomon ranked 10th in the list of the most popular sports mascots selected by forpos. During the 31 years of accompanying the Nuggets, Solomon was absent for only 8 weeks due to injury. This job brought high income and honor, and also deeply influenced his life.
rocky’s most famous injury: he suddenly fell into a coma before the high-altitude performance, which frightened many people.
After separating from his wife, Solomon lived alone with three young sons and had to bring them into the stadium when working. When Solomon shot the T-shirt at the crowd with the transmitter, the three little boys hid in the dressing room to do homework. When they are bored, they can only have fun by themselves and play football against the wall connecting the visiting team’s dressing room.
Garret Solomon, the eldest son, took a long time to realize that the father who covered him with a quilt and fed him to dinner was the rocky lion who never blinked on the court. “Whenever he came to the crowd to see us, he was no longer a rocky lion, but a father.” Garret said, “we will call dad loudly. People are like looking at fools, ‘what? Do they really think Rocky lion is their father? ‘”
With the help of his father’s work, the children had the opportunity to meet their idols. Garet clearly remembered that once the Lakers visited Denver, after the game, with his father’s help, he and Kobe, o’Neal took a group photo. Under the influence, Solomon’s sons began to follow his father’s footsteps. When Garet was 15 years old, he formed the first youth dunking team of nuggets with his two younger brothers. After graduating from college, he successfully passed the audition, the first father-son mascot in NBA was born as the mascot of the Knight Moon Dog. Two years later, Garret changed jobs to the piston and became Humber.
In 2020, father and son appeared together in the Chicago All-Star Game. Solomon was filled with emotion: “It is a proud moment to watch his son stand on the same stage with himself and perform well. My mood is hard to describe. I am happy and proud of him. I just want to know what his future looks like.”
In 2021, Nuggets fans felt something was wrong. They talked about it on social media. Did Loki lion, who had always supported, change people? The reason is very simple. They found that the logo shooting of the rocky lion seemed to be less accurate. The Nuggets official didn’t want to discuss this issue, but promised that the character of the rocky lion would not change, it also admitted in disguise that Solomon had retired.
Solomon’s youngest son Drake took over the torch, and the second son Kai de also joined the Nuggets as the guardian of the mascot to ensure that his brother appeared in the right place at the right time.
Kai de paid tribute to his father on social media: “I will always cherish our memories of staying in the stadium, the community and all over the world. From childhood to adulthood, he taught us a lot inside and outside the stadium, fully demonstrating his diligence and dedication. Most importantly, he taught us to be happy forever. He has a kind of magic, no matter whether he wears performance costumes or not, he can make people happy. For his family and fans, he is a real hero.”
If Drake hadn’t been injured, Ken Solomon might not have the chance to play the rocky Lion again, “revenge” on Barkley and enjoy the first finals trip. Can Solomon, who has accompanied the Nuggets for more than 30 years, bring good luck to Denver this time?
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(Text/Blue Sword 13)
