Nikola Jokic’s father says Nuggets star ‘hates being a public figure’

Nikola Jokic’s nonchalant attitude is part of his charm. Almost immediately after capturing his first NBA title, Jokic sounded bummed out when informed about the impending championship parade.

“Oh no, I need to go home,” Jokic said while shaking his head at the prospect of sticking around in Denver for an additional week when he was itching to return home to Serbia to ride his horses.

Similarly, Jokic was back home enjoying horse racing a day after leading Serbia to a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, where his country gave Team USA a real scare in the semifinal.

Jokic’s ability to shut off from basketball and focus on his beloved hobbies makes him the anti-NBA superstar. The big man rarely does interviews, isn’t active on social media and has no intention to develop his “brand” the way most of his contemporaries do. The Serb is just wired differently.

So, what makes him so averse to the spotlight? In an interview with Sportal, Jokic’s father, Branislav Jokic, shared some insight into his son’s disdain for being in the public eye.

“Nikola enjoys the simple things in life,” Branislav said. “We’re planning to build family homes and set up a hippodrome so he can satisfy his love for horses. What more could he need? It’s not like we didn’t have a summer house, horses, or similar things before, but what more does he need than this?”

Branislav further revealed his son hates city life, and therefore doesn’t have an apartment in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. That’s precisely why he rushes to his hometown of Sombor from the airport and avoids spending time in Belgrade, despite his love for rafting — a popular activity in the Serbian capital.

“Maybe he needs to go rafting in Belgrade, but what’s the point? To be a public figure?” Branislav pondered. “He’s not interested in that, he has music here [in Sombor] and a favorite bar where he goes on Fridays and Saturdays with his childhood friends. He doesn’t hang out with new friends. It’s hard for him to accept new people around him, they have to be from the world of basketball or horses — something else very difficult.”

Jokic’s insistence to cling to his familiar habitat spells good news for the Nuggets organization. A person who hates making new friends is unlikely ever to switch teams. The three-time MVP is signed with the Nuggets through the 2027-2028 season. There’s a good chance he follows in the footsteps of Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant as a player who spent their entire career with the same franchise.