Bob Woolf will surely share this story in his induction speech into the World Acrobatics Society Hall of Fame on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas.
It was July 1988.
He grew up a poor kid from Montana, who, at the time, was coaching gymnastics after starring in the sport at Arizona State.
Woolf couldn’t afford to attend Phoenix Suns
games, but he learned they were having tryouts for their “Go the Gorilla” mascot.It was a wild day at the Jewish Enrichment Center on Bethany Home Road in Phoenix, where the Suns used to practice.
“They had piano players, people on roller skates, jugglers,” Woolf recalls. “It was crazy that day. It was a zoo.”
When Woolf auditioned, he went to a move that became his signature slam.
“Grab on the rim, I did a kip-up, a gymnastics term,
I kip-up on to the rim,” he said in describing the move while extending his arms out. “Stand up, just kind of beat my chest and do a front flip off. That’s what help sell it for me.”
Woolf’s life changed at that moment. He’d begin a 30-plus-year career in the 1988-89 season as the high-flying, thrilling and daring Suns mascot entertaining millions.
“There were times the producer might be saying something in my ear and I'd miss it because I was like the fans, just engrossed with what he was getting ready to do or had already done,” Suns play-by-play announcer Kevin Ray said.
Woolf ushered in a new era of sports entertainment in which mascots executed acrobatic moves in custom costumes, bounced high off trampolines for dunks and fully interacted with the crowd.
Woolf’s daughter, Peyton, helped put this career choice in perspective.
“Being young and being offered this strange job and kind of taking a risk and then taking it and turning it into what it is because really, my dad is the one who made being a mascot a career,” she said.
The 62-year-old Woolf retired at age 57, with his last season in 2020-21 when the Suns reached the NBA Finals.
“Bob, he just endured," said Scott Barclay, a former ASU gymnastics coach who is on the WAS Board of Directors. "He had some serious injuries, but he kept going and he was motivated. He loved performing and being out in front of people and making kids laugh.”
"Michael Jordan would like to see you."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) September 4, 2026
"OK."
Bob Woolf on Jordan asking for his autograph.
Look for more from my Q&A with Woolf, who was Phoenix Suns "Gorilla" mascot for 30+ years as he's being inducted into World Acrobatics Society Hall of Fame next weekend in Vegas. #Suns pic.twitter.com/4GDYBxP2TD
Traveling the world and sharing the stage with some of the greatest athletes ever, Woolf never became that businessman wearing a suit and tie as his dad desired.
“I said, ‘Dad, let me do this for two or three years, and then I’ll get a real job,’” Woolf said. “About two or three years into it, I’m over in Paris (in 1991). I was invited to work with the (Los Angeles) Lakers in McDonald’s Open. Laker Girls. Myself. Bud Light Daredevils.”
The Lakers played in a series of games against overseas teams.
“I called Dad from Paris, and I said, ‘Dad, we’re on to something. This is something big and we’re going to continue rolling.’”
Legendary ASU gymnastics coach Don Robinson and Barclay helped Woolf merge his skills as a gymnast with entertainment, a combination that made him unlike any other mascot.
“Coach Robinson was a showman himself, he loved the circus,” Barclay said. “(Woolf) learned showmanship through Coach Robinson, using gymnastics, flipping and jumping and all those things, but still performing for people and making them laugh.”
Woolf’s job wasn’t just entertaining on Suns game nights.
He did anywhere from 300 to 350 appearances a year, visiting businesses, schools, hospitals and charity events.
“I think my record was eight shows a day,” Woolf said. “That was my full-time job. More than a full-time job when you put it all together, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
As wild and energetic he was as the Suns mascot, Woolf was the opposite without the furry costume and mask.
“He's just such a down-to-earth guy who is kind of quiet but always fun to be around,” Ray said. “So incredibly unassuming and authentic. He's just one of those guys who would do anything for you. Truly humble despite being such an accomplished professional.”
Woolf underwent 17 to 18 surgeries, a number that’s on the low end compared with his fellow mascots. Woolf often needed stitches from cutting his face on the mask.
He suffered his biggest injury after missing the mat on a dunk during a game.
“Tibia, fibia snapped and dislocated my ankle,” Woolf said. “Looked down at my ankle and kind of read New Balance (sneakers) on the bottom of my soles. I knew I was in trouble.”
It took him months to recover, but Woolf remembers Suns owner Jerry Colangelo saying, “You need to still entertain, Bob.”
"You need to still entertain Bob."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) September 6, 2026
Bob Woolf on Jerry Colangelo after most serious injury (tibia/fibia/ankle) as Phoenix Suns "Gorilla" mascot.
"17 to 18 surgeries." Biggest thing? Stitches.
"I was always getting cut under my mask."@RomeroJoseM Q&A with Woolf incoming. #Suns pic.twitter.com/cunEQWcyJi
Woolf wound up doing dance routines in a wheelchair with a cast on his right leg.
“We still made it work,” he said. “We went from wheelchair to crutches to getting rid of the crutches to doing a dunk. It was wonderful.”
Woolf set the artistic and financial standard for this new age of sports entertainment, inspiring ASU teammates to become NBA mascots, with one being Michael Zerrillo.
“For two years, I got to watch him travel around, I’d go with him once in a while,” Zerrillo said. “I was a second cousin Russian Gorilla for one skit.”
Then, in 1989, the Charlotte Hornets were looking to lure Woolf from the Suns after he had performed at one of their games.
Woolf declined, but recommended Zerrillo.
“He said, ‘I really like my gig here, but I got a roommate who can pretty much do everything I can do,’” Zerrillo said. “He helped me with my tryout the way I helped him. I got the job.”
Woolf became the first NBA mascot to "break the $100,000 barrier" early in his career as he put it.
“I set the bar,” he said. “That was my goal in life. I wanted to raise the salaries of other NBA mascots. I wanted to be the leader.”
The financial bar has since been raised.
Back in 2022, Sports Business Journal released a list of the five highest-paid mascots working in the NBA, with the Denver Nuggets “Rocky” topping the list at $625,000.
“Go The Gorilla” was fourth at $200,000.
“I wanted to set that standard because otherwise, you're just regular jobs, regular people,” Woolf said. “I got to explain it and show that it is an art. We are true entertainers.
"We understand the game is the game, but once you’re at the game, you’re entertained by us.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Hall of Fame-bound Suns 'Gorilla' set the bar for sports | Exclusive
