Watching Rocky the Nuggets Mascot Do a 30-Foot Trick Shot

If you're not familiar with Rocky — the Denver Nuggets' official mascot — you're missing one of the better live entertainment acts in professional sports. I don't say that lightly. I've been to games across the league, and Rocky consistently does things that make you put your phone down. That's a real benchmark in 2024.

On January 30, 2020, during the 2019-2020 NBA season, Rocky pulled off what a lot of people consider one of his best trick shots ever. We're talking about a basketball shot from the top of a 30-foot ladder at Pepsi Center. Think about that for a second — 30 feet up, inside an arena, launching a basketball toward a hoop while a crowd watches from below. It's the kind of stunt that sounds straightforward when you describe it and then completely floors you when you actually see it go in.

Pepsi Center

Pepsi Center is the home of the Denver Nuggets, and if you haven't been for a game, it's worth going at least once just to understand the full experience. The arena sits on the edge of downtown Denver, and the energy inside during a home game is different from watching anything on TV — not because of the players, but because of the little moments that happen between the action. Rocky's halftime and timeout stunts are a big part of that.

The 30-foot ladder shot is a perfect example of what makes Rocky's act work. It's not just that he makes the shot — it's the setup. Watching someone climb a ladder that tall inside an arena, with the crowd getting quieter as he gets higher, and then actually releasing the ball from that height — there's a genuine suspense to it. When it goes in, the place reacts the way you'd want it to.

What Makes Rocky Different

I want to be specific about why this particular trick shot stands out, because Rocky does a lot of stunts and not all of them hit the same way. Height changes everything about a basketball shot. From 30 feet up on a ladder, the angle to the basket is completely different from a normal shot, and the room for error is massive. The ball has to travel farther, arc correctly, and drop into a standard-sized rim — the same rim the Nuggets players are shooting at all night. There's no modification to make it easier.

Rocky has been doing these kinds of stunts for a long time, and you can tell the difference between a mascot that's just filling time and one that's actually trained for this. The ladder shot is legitimately impressive. It's the kind of thing where even if you saw a clip of it, you'd probably want to see it again just to confirm it actually happened.

Going to a Nuggets Game

If this has you thinking about actually going to Pepsi Center for a game, a few things are worth knowing from someone who's done it a lot. Getting there is pretty straightforward — it's right off I-25 and there's a light rail stop (Pepsi Center/Elitch Gardens station) that makes parking a non-issue if you're coming from anywhere along the RTD lines.

Inside, the sightlines are good from most sections. The lower bowl is obviously going to give you the closest look at what's happening on the court, but upper-level seats are decent and considerably easier on your wallet if you're going for the full experience rather than a specific matchup. Either way, you're close enough to the floor action and the halftime entertainment to feel like you're actually there.

Rocky's biggest stunts tend to happen at halftime or during longer TV timeouts, so don't be the person who spends those breaks in the concession line. The halftime show especially — if there's a trick shot or stunt on the schedule, that's when it'll happen, and you don't get a replay when you're sitting in the arena.

Why This Moment Matters for Denver Sports

Denver has a pretty solid mascot culture across its teams. Miles at Broncos games, Dinger at Coors Field, Howler at Colorado Rapids — they're all fine. Rocky is on a different level, and I think part of the reason is that he's been around long enough and worked hard enough at the physical performance side of it that his stunts carry actual weight. You're not just watching a person in a costume wave at kids. You're watching someone who has clearly put real work into making a 30-foot ladder shot look like a reasonable thing to attempt.

That January 2020 game was before everything changed with the pandemic shutdowns that hit a couple months later, so there's also a weird kind of document to this clip — a packed Pepsi Center, a normal NBA Tuesday, Rocky climbing a ladder and making history for himself while the crowd just reacts naturally. It's a good snapshot of what live sports are when they're working the way they should.

Worth Watching

The clip from January 30, 2020 is out there if you want to see it before committing to tickets. Watching it on a screen gives you the visual, but it doesn't give you the crowd reaction in real time, the noise when the ball drops through, or the way the whole arena kind of exhales after a successful stunt like that. That part only happens when you're sitting in the seats.

Rocky's been doing trick shots and halftime stunts for years, and if the 30-foot ladder shot represents the ceiling of what he pulls off, the floor is still pretty entertaining. Most games will have something worth watching from him, even if it's not a record-setter.

If you're looking for a reason to get to Pepsi Center for the first time or get back if it's been a while, this is a decent one. The Nuggets are a good team to watch right now, and Rocky is going to give you something to talk about on the way home regardless of the final score. That's not a bad deal for a night out in Denver.