Though I’ve never been much of a sporty person myself, I’ve always carried a torch for my family’s favorite teams purely because of that animalistic part of our brains that loves rooting for someone. No matter where I move, I’ll probably always have some sort of allegiance to the Golden State Warriors as a result. So when I saw that Nikola Jokić, first-time champion for the Denver Nuggets, was trending, I got ready to mentally square up.
However, the reason he’s trending is so thoroughly relatable, I gotta lower my dukes. When asked about his upcoming participation in a parade celebrating his newfound championship, Jokić looked utterly despondent, realizing he couldn’t just go home and relax after all he’d done:
My god, this poor man. He just wanted to go home and ride his horses, hang out with his family, see his buds. Look at those eyes. That, right there, is a weary man if I’ve ever seen one.
And good god, who can blame him? Jokić played his ass off, earning the Nuggets their first championship ever, and being the first Nuggets player to hold such a title on his own shoulders. He already got to celebrate with his team, so I’m sure the last thing on his mind was having to put on a public spectacle, on top of everything else. Even his phone couldn’t give him a break:
It’s all in good fun, of course, and part of the fun of loving a team is getting to party with that team in mind. I just think we can all relate to his exasperation in this moment—that profoundly disappointing moment when you think you’ve squared away everything you needed to do, and then someone has the gall to remind you that there’s still more to do. The woe. The horror. All he wanted to do was go home and rest so he could race his horses on Sunday. As someone who also rides on Sundays, I feel you, Jokić. That’s horsie day. Your rest day. And we’ve earned it, dammit!
At least the parade won’t require more than a smile and a wave, and in the end, it’s in celebration of this massive accomplishment. Will I be joining in? Hell to the NO, that’s not my team! But still, major congrats to the Nuggets, and more to the point, I will be taking a nap on behalf of Jokić until he can finally go home and do it himself. We’ll all be getting through this week, one way or another.
(Featured Image: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
