DENVER — Once he saw the Coloradans packed into downtown, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic had a change of heart about the team’s championship parade.
“You know that I told I don’t want to stay on parade. But I f***ing want to stay on parade,” he said at the subsequent celebration rally as the crowd chanted “MVP!”
“This is amazing. We’re all going to remember this our whole lives. When we see you guys that came out on the streets, actually, this one is for you. We love you, Denver. This one is for you. Thank you, guys.”
Jokic hugged and danced with his teammates on the rally stage in Civic Center Park. Joined by his wife and daughter, he also rode on a firetruck in the parade through downtown (though the players and everyone else on the truck had to move to another vehicle after the truck hit a Denver officer).
It was just Monday, after the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, that Jokic learned about the parade schedule.
“When is parade?” Jokic asked when a reporter questioned if he was looking forward to it.
He got his answer. Thursday.
“No. I need to go home,” Jokic said, putting his head in hands. "Uhhh…."
Jokic, from Serbia, already had weekend plans.
"On Sundays, I have my horse racing," he said on NBA TV after Monday's game.
Jokic is known for his lifelong love of horses. He even wants to buy another now that the Nuggets won the title.
Maybe most people don't own a horse, but Jokic dished out a series of relatable quotes after the championship win, proving he's just like us. He's a guy who is now off the clock, needs a break and wants to go home to hang out with his pets.
"It's an amazing feeling," he said. "Like I said before, it's not everything in the world. There's bunch of things that I like -- I like to do. I mean, probably, that's a normal thing. Nobody likes his job, or maybe they do and they're lying."
And in a separate interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews, he said: "Basketball is not the main thing in my life. It’s something that I’m good at.”
>WATCH: Denver Nuggets NBA Championship parade (FULL)
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