NBA Finals Game 5: Live Updates: Denver Nuggets appear to close out Miami Heat
In 2019, Junam Lee started posting about her father, Jung Soo Lee, on a Denver Nuggets fan page on Reddit, often commenting on how excited he was for an upcoming game. Nuggets fans quickly fell in love with him because of how stoic and sometimes hilarious he watched while watching the matches.
Then Junam posted a picture of her father watching a game while wearing a travel neck pillow. Reddit users loved the photo so much they started calling it “Nuggdad.” Since then, every shot of Jung Soo, 69, has been treated with almost the same excitement as a Nikola Jokic triple-double or a major Nuggets win.
“Nuggdad has become a unifying symbol for our community,” said Alec Gwin, who has been part of the moderation team for the Reddit page since 2014. He added, “I wouldn’t say Reddit fans love him as much as the players do, but we’ve all adopted him as our collective father.”
Three years ago, one user created a popular illustration of Jung Soo in his signature relaxed pose with his arms folded while wearing his neck pillow. His son, Juhyun Lee, was somehow unaware of his father’s online fame until his friends showed him a photo after the Nuggets defeated the Lakers in this year’s Western Conference Finals.
“They say, dude, this is your dad, isn’t it?” said Juhyun, 39, laughing. “And I was like yeah, this is wild.”
Hey guys, most of you probably don’t know about Nuggdad so here’s a quick thread!🧵
Over the years, his daughter has shared photos of him on Nuggets Reddit enjoying his team and we all love him. If you have some money to spare, we’ll try to send him to the finals! pic.twitter.com/Vp570dZKIR
— Alec Gwin (@alecgwin) May 31, 2023
Originally from South Korea, the Lee family moved to Colorado in 1999. But Jung Soo didn’t become a Nuggets fan until 2019. He had had many health problems since coming to the United States, including oral cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. During his cancer treatment in 2016, his wife, In Sook Lee, died following a stroke. In 2019, he moved in with his daughter, who turned him into a Nuggets fan because of her passion for the team.
While Jung Soo supported the team largely because of Junam, 36, when Nuggets guard Jamal Murray returned from a knee tear this season, he began to feel a deeper connection to the team. Jung Soo’s many health problems often leave him feeling depressed and unsure of how he will move forward, he said, but the way Murray has recovered from his injury has inspired him.
“It almost felt like a reflection of my life,” Jung Soo said in Korean during an interview translated by Juhyun. “Coming back from my surgeries and recovering from my illness and pain gave me that extra motivation, so that’s why I’m wearing the Murray jersey.”
After hearing about his father’s popularity on Reddit, Juhyun created a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising enough money to send his father to Game 1 of the NBA Finals with him and his sister. Donations poured in until they reached their goal of $2,345.
And there was Nuggdad at what was the biggest game in Nuggets history up to that point, in his Murray jersey. (The only thing missing was his neck pillow.) He’ll be watching Game 5 from home on Monday — the tickets to this game were way too expensive — but he’ll be there in spirit and fingers crossed for Murray to win a championship.
“That is motivating for me to stay healthy all my life and get victories no matter what they look like,” said Jung Soo.