Nikola Jokic is raining on the Nuggets' parade.
The NBA Finals MVP, the player most responsible for bringing the first basketball championship to Denver, the person thousands of Coloradans will line the streets to see on Thursday, isn't so thrilled about the city's parade to honor the team.
Reason being? He just wants to go home to Serbia.
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Jokic was asked by a reporter after the Nuggets' championship-clinching 94-89 win over the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the Finals on Monday if he is looking forward to the parade.
"When is parade?" Jokic asked.
He was told it is Thursday.
NBA
"No," Jokic said, rubbing his head in perceived disappointment. "I need to go home."
After a historic season, Jokic has certainly earned the right to go wherever he’d like now that the NBA offseason is underway. The two-time MVP averaged 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists in the Finals. He set a single-season playoff record with 10 triple-doubles, topping Wilt Chamberlain's previous record of seven, en route to becoming the first player in NBA history to be the postseason leader in points, rebounds and assists.
But most importantly, he brought the Nuggets their first NBA championship in 47 years, the most of any team in the league prior to their first title, per ESPN Stats & Info.
"The job is done," Jokic told ESPN after the win. "We can go home now."
Jokic had a rather emotionless locker room champagne pop after the Nuggets won -- but he did later throw teammate Jamal Murray into the pool in celebration.
Jokic told reporters Monday that winning a championship is an amazing feeling but "not the most important thing in the world."
"It’s a good feeling when you know that you did something that nobody believes [you could have done]," Jokic said. "It’s just us, it’s just the organization, the Nuggets believed in us. Every player believed in each other, and I think that’s the most important thing."
