NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) has reunited with the Bill Russell Trophy he said he lost.
In an interview with ESPN that aired on Thursday, Jokic said he has no idea where the trophy went.
“I really don’t know, I left it in Sparky’s (Gonzalez-Denver Nuggets equipment manager) room and it’s not there anymore, so I don’t know,” he said with a nonchalant tone.
ESPN’s Malika Andrews, who conducted the interview, later tweeted that Gonzalez had the trophy cleaned and ready for Thursday’s parade in downtown Denver.
Jokic actually showed up with the MVP trophy during the championship celebration in downtown Denver on Nov. 15.
Jokic won the NBA Finals MVP (Bill Russell Trophy) after averaging 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game in the Finals, which Denver won 4 games to 1 over the Miami Heat for the franchise’s first championship since its inception.
However, he said he’s not interested in the award at all. He also said that basketball is not his number one priority in life.
Asked in his postgame interview if he was looking forward to the Nuggets’ victory parade, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, he seemed concerned that it would delay his return to his hometown of Sombor, Serbia.”Yeah, I have to go home, I have a horse race on Sunday,” he told reporters. He revealed his priorities in life, saying that now that his professional basketball career is over, he can’t wait to get back home to spend time with his family and enjoy his favorite pastime, horse racing.스포츠토토
He was more specific in an interview with ESPN.
“Basketball is not the most important thing in my life, it’s what I’m good at.”
Jokic was joined by his daughter in the victory parade on Thursday afternoon. A much more animated Jokic told the crowd, “This is amazing, we’re all going to remember this moment for the rest of our lives.”
“We’re all going to remember this for the rest of our lives,” he told the crowd. The anticipation of actually being able to go home after this made him feel even better.