“Nikola is usually in his stable with horses. That’s something that’s his thing,” a friend says of the three-time NBA MVP.
DENVER — One of the most viral videos of Nikola Jokić’s career will likely go down of him being selected in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft as a Taco Bell commercial played on the screen. Another viral video of The Joker has nothing to do with him playing basketball at all.
Over the summer, a harness racing event took place in his native Serbia. It wouldn’t have registered on the world stage had it not been for the sight of the three-time NBA MVP openly shedding tears of joy as he made his way to greet the drivers of Dream Catcher, his horse racing operation, helping his horse, Demon Dell’Est, to victory.
To understand that sentiment, it’s important to grasp how much Serbia’s favorite son was attracted to horses in the first place.
“We have a saying,” Jokić told The Athletic. ‘If you’re young and you swallow the horse hair, you cannot stop loving them.’ What I like about them is how they run, how they act, how they’re resting, how they’re smelling. I like to watch them, I like to train them, I like to see them running, racing. The only thing I didn’t do, I did want to race back in the day. I miss that feeling when you and the horse are basically one.”
The footage of Jokić crying not only became a viral sensation but also served as a glimpse into a very public and famous figure’s private life. It was a human moment for one of the greatest basketball players of all time that quickly became a source of intrigue.
Nikola Jokic in tears after his horse won the race today
Credit: Arena Sport TV pic.twitter.com/uRnbRi5Vv5
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) July 27, 2025
The scene created a question of its own: Why is Jokić, who famously didn’t show much emotion after leading the Nuggets to the 2023 NBA championship and couldn’t wait to get out of Denver, suddenly so overcome with emotion that he was crying after a horse race in Serbia?
Anyone who knows Jokić knows how much he cares about the animals. He has pictures of horses adorned to his locker inside Ball Arena and ribbons from different competitions.
Nuggets assistant coach Ogi Stojaković has known Jokić for years, dating to the pair’s shared history in Serbia. He believes that Jokić is drawn to a horse’s nobility and can see the pride the big man takes in caring for the animals.
“Honestly,” Stojaković said. “I think that’s his first love.”
Aaron Gordon still remembers what it was like to walk with Jokić through the streets of Sombor, Serbia. Gordon saw the way the locals treated the famous player and the way Jokić embraced his surroundings.
“You understand why he’s as humble as he is,” Gordon said. “They still see him as a stable boy out there.”
Gordon has been Jokić’s teammate with the Nuggets for six years and was a member of that 2023 championship team. He’s gotten to know just how passionate Jokić is about everything regarding horses, why they matter so much to him and what they represent for him. Gordon knows how competitive his teammate is and that the racing appeals to that side of Jokić’s personality as well. He said that Jokić having a racetrack in his hometown is “special.”
“I think he appreciates how beautiful they are,” Gordon said of the horses. “There’s something majestic, and there’s something really genuine and pure about horses in general. I think it brings him a certain level of peace, and that’s priceless.”
As he toured Sombor with Jokić, Gordon said it was easier to understand why he has turned out the way that he has, especially in the context of why his relationship with the horses has remained as strong as it has through the years.
“The way that he lives and the way that he approaches his life in the game,” Gordon said, “it makes sense for him to be the greatest.”
There’s a part of Jokić that really appreciates that. He respects that the animals don’t view him any differently and that the people of Sombor, those he grew up with, don’t treat him differently just because of the accolades he has attained on the court. When asked if the affinity for horses and the racing is part of an escape for him with everything else going on in his life, Jokić didn’t hesitate to respond.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “They don’t look at me as an NBA player; they don’t look at me as a player, actually. I have one of my friends who is still training my horses back home. I was 13 years old when I came there. I was a stable boy, and he still sees me as a stable boy.”
On a particular night in early November, the juxtaposition in Jokić’s life between his job and his true passion were on full display. After almost registering yet another triple-double in a blowout win over the Golden State Warriors, Jokić spoke to a small group of reporters in the back of the Nuggets’ locker room. He was asked about Gordon’s thunderous dunk over Warriors big man Quinten Post that included a crossover of Buddy Hield — and he doesn’t even remember it. The exchange drew a chuckle from the handful of people left in the room, including Gordon, who was dressing nearby.
A few moments later, when asked about his love of horses, Jokić’s answer shows more depth. One of the reasons Jokić was so emotional in the racing video viewed millions of times is because the driver he is seen hugging has been a close family friend for years. It’s the man who helps train his horses in Sombor.
“It’s funny,” Jokić said. “We go fishing together, we drink together, we lose together, we win together, so I see him as my friend. And actually, his son is the best man at my wedding, so it’s a cool story.”
Jokić leads his horse to the stable after a race at Beogradski Hipodrom on June 23, 2019 in Belgrade, Serbia. “Honestly,” a friend says, “I think that’s his first love.”
As new Nuggets swingman Cam Johnson finished up a shootaround earlier this season, he stood in a corner inside Chase Center in San Francisco and pondered a question: Aside from family, does he love anything as much as Jokić loves horses?
“No,” Johnson said. “I’ve seen the clips of the joy on his face. That’s tough to beat.”
Johnson, like several other Nuggets players and personnel, has had discussions with Jokić about his horse operation. They respect how much he cares and the lengths he goes during the year to try to follow what is going on with the ones he cares about most.
“He gets happy talking about it, for sure,” Johnson said.
Veteran guard Bruce Brown has been Jokić’s teammate during two separate stints in Denver and knows that while Jokić’s passion is pretty unique in league circles, it’s something his teammates have embraced about him because they can see what it means to him.
“He sometimes shows more emotion out there than he does during the games when he does something crazy,” Brown said. “That shows his passion.”
Jokić’s love for the animals is something that Gordon also respects. He wasn’t surprised that his teammate and friend was crying after that race in Serbia.
“Everybody sees us as basketball players and athletes,” Gordon said. “They want to marginalize us and put us in this box that helps them understand who we are as people. But there are a lot of guys in this league that have a lot of depth, and he’s one of them.”
As much as his teammates and friends are happy to see Jokić enjoying time with the horses, when it comes to that specific moment that drew viral attention last summer, Gordon thinks there might have been one more key factor in play that day.
“He’d probably been drinking,” Gordon joked.
Wherever the emotion came from, nobody near Jokić wants it to change. They know one of his favorite ways to get away from the game involves the animal he’s been most passionate about throughout his life. It’s a love he hopes will continue for the rest of his life.
“I track horses every day,” Jokić said. “I follow it. I have three, four of my friends that I follow all over the world. It’s a great way to stay off the basketball court, and you’re into nature, you’re into horses, you’re with friends who don’t care who you are. I basically grew up with some of my friends back home, so I hope that love (of horses) is never going to go away.”
His friends and teammates don’t anticipate that it will. He cares about the game of basketball and putting in the work to improve day by day, but the horses are part of the fabric of his life. When his friends look for him in Sombor, they know where to find him.
“Where is Nikola?” Stojaković said of when he visits Jokić. “Nikola is usually in his stable with horses. That’s something that’s his thing. He feels happy there, satisfied and fulfilled.”
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Nick Friedell is a Senior Writer for The Athletic covering the Golden State Warriors and the NBA. Nick spent 14 years at ESPN covering the NBA, most notably as a reporter as well as a TV and radio commentator. He is a graduate of The Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Follow Nick on X @NickFriedell.
