Inside Charles Barkley’s 30-year feud with Nuggets mascot Rocky the Mountain Lion as pair scrap again in NBA Finals
THE Denver Nuggets might have lost Game 2 of the 2023 NBA Finals, but their mascot Rocky the Mountain Lion could leave Ball Arena with its head held high.
That's because Rocky took another dub over NBA icon Charles Barkley on Sunday in continuation of their decades-long feud.
Before the Miami Heat tied the Finals series at 1-1, the Nuggets had made Barkley, now a TV analyst, believe Rocky came to bury the hatchet.
The mascot and the former Phoenix Suns forward have been trading jabs, figuratively and literally, since Chuck's prime years in the NBA.
Denver recalled some of the feud's highlights in a special montage on Sunday night.
It showed how Rocky provoked Barkley with a poster that questioned the then-Suns star's courage when Denver hosted Phoenix back in the 1990s.
The mascot brazenly held a white sheet with a chicken and Chuck's No. 34 drawn on it on the court.
Barkley then approached Rocky – who walked on stilts – and brought the yellow mountain lion to the ground with a blow to its head.
Another time, the 1993 NBA MVP fooled the mascot by pretending to shake its hand before sending it tumbling to the floor with a slap.
Rocky tried to get his revenge after Chuck joined the Houston Rockets in 1996.
It once welcomed the 11-time All-Star with a special dunk stunt, leaping through a drawing of a player wearing Barkley's No. 4 jersey and a ballet skirt before hammering the ball down.
But after the mascot got up from the mattress it landed on, Barkley tackled the Nuggets icon, slapped it a few times, and then pulled its leg to drag the lion onto the hardwood.
The savage feud has also seen Chuck stomping on Rocky as well as the mountain sucker-punching the NBA star and running away.
And the mascot pulled a similar move on Barkley when it seemingly came to Ball Arena to end their beef on Sunday.
The two exchanged signed jerseys as a sign of peace before posing for photos together.
Rocky then told Chuck to look away before throwing his Suns jersey over the NBA icon, throwing its own top on his head, and punching the TNT and NBA TV analyst.
They will have a chance to meet at least once more during the NBA Finals.
The Heat's victory in Game 2 means the series will return to Denver after back-to-back matchups in Miami.