The Phoenix Suns completed their second-round sweep of the Denver Nuggets on Sunday with a Game 4 that saw Nikola Jokic ejected in the third quarter for whacking Cameron Payne's face. Though the Nuggets offseason started a little earlier than the reigning MVP might have hoped, he's now back at home in Serbia, spending time with his loved ones (horses). Serbian news outlet RTS reports that Jokic stopped by at the Sombor Hippodrome, where he chose not to speak to the press but was happy to be filmed. Thus: lo-fi Nikola Jokic horse footage to chill and study to. If only all paparazzi footage were this soothing.
While we have yet to confirm with horse authorities, this at least resembles Dream Catcher, the horse Jokic bought after his first NBA season to fulfill a childhood dream. "I just like their beauty, how they move, how they run, how they look you using their ears [gestures around ears]. I think it's a really good thing for me and I really like myself like that—it makes me calm," Jokic said of horses in 2017, after Nuggets coach Mike Malone made an offseason trip to visit him in Sombor and appreciate the animals.
“I just enjoy being around them and seeing their different characteristics,” Jokic told The Athletic last year. “You get to see when they work out that they are basically like us. They are athletes, sprinters. They are magnificent creatures.” Just two magnificent creatures out on the track, enjoying a summer day.