2013 is not a good year to be a mascot in the NBA.
Toronto lost its excitable mascot “Raptor” in the preseason to a nasty Achilles tear, and now Denver will join them as the latest team to suffer a bizarre injury to its costumed cheerleader. Before Denver’s game against Portland on Friday, the Nuggets’ mascot Rocky was set to pump up the crowd by being lowered from the ceiling, but something went seriously wrong, Wayne Harrison of Channel 7 in Denver reports — Rocky somehow lost consciousness and was lowered to the floor with his arms and legs limp and hanging disturbingly at his sides.
As the mascot reached the floor, his legs immediately gave way and the stadium spotlight was turned off — you know, because if any kids at the game weren’t traumatized by the cartoonish bobcat stiffly hanging 40 feet in the air, throwing his lifeless body into absolute darkness as cheerleaders dance blindly in the background is the best way to drive the point home.
The official word from the team was that Rocky “had the wind knocked out of him.” The mascot was eventually able to walk away under his own power and he tweeted the next day that he was feeling much better and would be back for the Nuggets Nov. 5 tilt against the Spurs.
Check out the GIF below for Rocky’s ordeal and an accurate representation of Denver’s play so far this season.
Photo/GIF via Channel 7 Denver
