Thursday’s parade downtown to commemorate the city’s first NBA title will feature Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. However, the MVP of the NBA Finals will be plagued by one question all day long: will he return home in time to watch his horses race this weekend?

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Jokic, 28, finished off a historic run in the NBA Finals on Monday night. Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas said Jokic is now considered one of the game’s most “legendary” players. Jokic won back-to-back NBA MVP awards in the previous two years before leading his team to their first championship this season.

But Jokic persisted in telling reporters following Monday night’s 94-89 championship victory against the Miami Heat that he wanted to go back home to his stable in Sombor, Serbia, to see his horses—whether it was a brazen swagger or a genuine representation of his “lowkey” attitude.

“I race my horse on Sundays,” Jokic said after the match. “I don’t know how I’m going to get there [in time] for Thursday’s parade.” Maybe this Friday? I’m going to ask Josh Kroenke, the owner of the Nuggets, for a plane.

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Jokic answered practically emotionlessly, “It’s good,” when asked by ESPN’s Lisa Saulters what it’s like to finally hoist the NBA’s Larry O’Brien trophy. It’s alright. “Now that the job is done, we can leave and go home.”

Jokic has “more than a half-dozen” horses in his stable waiting for him at home, according to The Athletic. Jokic, who is 6 feet 11 inches tall and 284 pounds, is too big to ride horses, but he is passionate enough to train them and has always been fascinated by them.

“In 2016, I had two older brothers who were basketball players,” he said to SLAM Magazine. “I fell in love with basketball because of them.” We used to play together all the time. However, I eventually developed an interest in horse racing. The grace and beauty of horses made me fall in love with them. For me, it was almost like a pastime. I didn’t give it much thought. I wasn’t even considering basketball a serious sport. I found myself torn between the two.

The MVP with the horse whispers, Nikola Jokic

Following Monday night’s championship victory, Branislav, his father, revealed to The Associated Press that his son had originally intended to be a horseman rather than a basketball player.

“He began to grow, both in size and height, and he became aware that he could play basketball, but at that time, he had a strong desire,” Branislav recalled. “He would say, ‘Dad, I want to be a horseman. I used to tell him, “Son, you’ll become a great horseman later; become a basketball player first.”

Jokic finds ways to travel to stables around the nation during the NBA season while the Nuggets are away playing.

Jokic has even developed a friendship with Tim Tetrick, a harness racer from New Jersey who is in the Hall of Fame. Tetrick recently revealed to The New York Daily News that when the Nuggets play on the East Coast, Jokic visits him and goes with him to local stables. Jokic once made his teammates wait three hours for him while he worked with horses with Tetrick.

Jokic spent Thursday night at the horse races. Get ready for Saturday’s S Tier Jokic. Denver Nuggets

The trainer claims that shortly before Game 3 of the NBA Finals this year, Tetrick, 41, received a text from the NBA star asking how his races were going. Tetrick said, “I said, you got a game in 30 minutes.”

“I’m just a regular guy,” Tetrick responded, “Not at all,” to the Daily News. “You’d never believe that he plays basketball for $40 million a year.” Sweating, he enters the barn. After that, he dons his training gear, enters, and loiters.

According to reporters, Jokic will have to make room in his locker—where a horse ribbon is prominently displayed in front of his MVP Awards—after winning the NBA championship and the Finals MVP Award. Additionally, he will need to make more room in his stable at home because he promised ESPN’s Malika Andrews that he would purchase a new horse if the Nuggets won the championship.