Nikola Jokic’s Father Reveals Son Struggles with Making Friends Beyond Basketball and Horse Racing

Nikola Jokic has a reserved personality. The Nuggets superstar often keeps his guard up and only focuses on basketball and his love for horses. Despite being in the NBA for a decade, the only player he has addressed as a friend is Mavericks sensation Luka Doncic.

Recently, the three-time MVP’s father, Branislav, gave an interview to Serbian news outlet Mondo and shed light on his son’s introverted nature. He revealed that the center struggles to make new friends. He claimed that people outside the basketball and horse-racing realm have next to no chance of befriending the Nuggets icon.

Branislav stated that his son is more intrigued by simple things, like building houses and raising his horses. He added that he’s not particularly social and prefers spending time at home over partying. He said,

“[The partying and socializing] stuff doesn’t interest him. He has music and his favorite tavern where he goes out on Fridays and Saturdays with his childhood friends. He doesn’t hang out with new friends. He has a hard time letting people in his circle, they need to be either from the world of basketball or horse racing, otherwise it’s extremely difficult.”

Nikola Jokic’s father in an interview: “Nikola doesn’t like making new friends, he has trouble letting people in his circle, they have to be either from basketball or horse racing. We’re going to fix up the hypodrome and build him a family house (in Sombor), he doesn’t need anything more than that.”
byu/TheMagicMan56 innba

Jokic’s preference for horses over people was on display after he led the Nuggets to the NBA title in 2023. He expressed his disappointment when he was told during the post-game press conference that he’d have to stay in Denver for the championship parade. He claimed he wanted to attend a horse race back in Serbia and had no plans of sticking around.

While his father believes the center struggles to make new friends, he gets along with teammates just fine. He even invited one of them to Serbia to give them a taste of his favorite hobby.

Nikola Jokic took teammate Aaron Gordon for a horse race

In the 2023 offseason, Nuggets star Aaron Gordon earned the privilege of getting a personalized tour of Jokic’s horse stable and tagging with him to a horse race. The Nuggets center owns several horses, and they often compete in races in his home country of Serbia.

Nikola Jokic’s top horse, Brenno Laumar, wins the biggest race of the day in Sombor with Aaron Gordon in attendance.pic.twitter.com/3A2KoFA38W

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) August 13, 2023

Gordon’s presence proved to be a good luck charm. The three-time MVP’s horse, named Brenno Laumar, won the race, much to his delight. It’s unclear how close Jokic is with the rest of his teammates. However, it’s safe to assume the forward is his best friend on the roster.