The Denver Nuggets shocked the NBA world on Tuesday by firing head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth. Malone has been with the Nuggets for 10 years as he began coaching the team in 2015. He had a lot of success with the team as they won the NBA championship in 2023. Now, he is gone, and everyone is wondering what will happen with Nikola Jokic. Jokic is Serbian, and because of the large Serbian population in the Windy City, Chicago Bulls fans are wondering if Jokic might be interested in the Bulls.
Nikola Jokic has acknowledged the big Serbian population in Chicago before, and the Bulls have even held Serbian night when Jokic and the Nuggets come to town.
“It’s the second-biggest Serbian population here,” Jokic said after a game in Chicago last season. “Belgrade [Serbia] is the first, and Chicago is the second. So, maybe they came to see me.”
Jokic’s hunch was correct, he definitely did have some extra fans in the house in the house on that December night.
This has been happening for well over a year. Jokic feels the love every time that he comes to Chicago, and his teammates notice it.
“It was a home game for him,” Paul Millsap said after a game in 2018, according to an article from The Denver Post. “I can see why he was feeling it out there. His fans are our fans. The more the better. We gotta pack them up and bring them on our next trip.”
Jokic noted that his home country loves the game of basketball, and that’s why so many Serbians want to come out and see him play.
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“Just imagine the whole arena is doing that. … It’s kind of the whole Serbian population,” Jokic said. “People love basketball. We are kind of the country of basketball. That’s what we do.”
Now, Bulls fans are hoping that Jokic might want to feel that kind of love during every home game. It already sounds like a home game for him when he comes with Denver, but imagine if he actually played for the Bulls.
Bulls fans have been especially excited because of an alleged Nikola Jokic quote that recently surfaced:
“[Chicago] is cool because it has the most Serbian nationality,” Jokic said, according to a post from Die-Hard Chicago Bulls fans. “There are a lot of Serbian people, my people. I can hear them during the game. It is always nice playing in front of your people.”
Some fans are questioning if Doncic really said this, but he has clearly noticed the love when he comes to Chicago. Is it likely that he comes to Chicago? No, but fans can dream, right?
