Why is the phoenix suns mascot a gorilla?

Answer 1

For the first eleven seasons of their existence in the NBA, the Suns had no official mascot. An early attempt was made involving a sunflower costume, but it never caught on. In the winter of 1980, a singing telegram (sent by James Oberhaus, a loyal fan) named Henry Rojas from Eastern Onion Telegram service was sent to the arena in a gorilla costume. Security saw him and suggested to him to stay for a while to entertain the fans during the breaks. He kept coming to games until officially invited to be the Suns' mascot.

Since then, the gorilla, named Go, has been known for his slapstick humor during the games such as his stadium stairs all to the sound of the Rocky Theme, and the fantastic dunks that are performed before each 4th quarter. Also, one of his more beloved skits was at a Knicks home game where he came out to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York", wearing a hat, with several pieces of garbage stuck to his leg. Halfway through the song, a group of "muggers" attacked him, and he staggered off the court afterwards. The gorilla was honored in 2005 when he was selected to be one of three inaugural members of the Mascots Hall of Fame. According to the Suns' website, the Gorilla graduated from "Hairy Truman" High School in "Mon-key West, Florida", and "Fur-Man University" in 1980.