After leading the Denver Nuggets to victory at the NBA Finals, Nikola Jokić showed up for a post-game interview and admitted that he briefly lost his MVP trophy.
In an interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews the day after the NBA Finals, Jokić was told he was one of the only Finals MVPs to not show up to the interview with his trophy in hand. Asked where he was, he replied, "I really don't know. I left it in [equipment manager Sparky Gonzales’] room and it’s not there anymore. So, I don’t know. But hopefully it can arrive in my house.”
Thankfully, he was able to locate the trophy before Denver's parade on Thursday. "Rest assured, the Nuggets’ longtime equipment guru Sparky Gonzales has the trophy cleaned and detailed and it’s ready for Thursday’s parade," tweeted Andrews.
Elsewhere in his interview, Jokić further exemplified just how easy-going he is when it comes to his NBA career. “I think I can be much better. But you need to still sacrifice yourself. Basketball is not the main thing in my life. It’s something that I’m good at,” he shared. "They didn’t believe in the fat boy. It seems like it worked out. Don’t bet against the fat boy.”
His comments, while humble, echo the sentiment he shared with ESPN's Lisa Salters in the moments after being awarded the Bill Russell NBA Finals Award. "The job is done, we can go home now," he said. "I need to go home." When he spoke with Andrews, he shared that he plans to celebrate the win in his home country Serbia with close friends and family "and just enjoy the moment."
Throughout the series, Jokić averaged 30.2 points, 14 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.4 steals. He became the first-ever player to record a 30-20-10 state line in the NBA Finals last week, but when asked about the achievement he simply replied, "I don't care, it's just a stat."
