In 2019, Junam Lee started posting about his father, Jung Soo Lee. Denver Nuggets fan page on Reddit, which often included comments about how excited he was about the upcoming match. Nuggets fans instantly fell in love with him. How stoic and sometimes hilarious He watched the game while watching.
Joonam then posted a photo of his father. Watch the game wearing a travel neck pillow. Reddit users liked this photo so much that they started calling him “Nuggdad.” Since then, every photo of the 69-year-old Jong Su has been treated with almost the same excitement as Nikola Jokic’s triple-double or the Nuggets’ important victory.
“Nagdad has become a symbol that unites our community,” said Alec Gwynn, who has been part of Reddit Page’s moderation team since 2014. He added, “I can’t say that Reddit fans love him as much as the players do.” But we all adopted him as our common father. “
Three years ago, a user I drew a popular illustration This is a picture of Jongsu with his arms crossed and his signature relaxed posture while using a neck pillow. His son, Juhyun Lee, was somehow unaware of his father’s online fame until a friend showed him a photo after the Nuggets defeated the Lakers in this year’s Western Conference Finals.
“They say, hey, this is your father, right?” Joohyun, 39, said with a laugh. “And I thought, oh, this is wild.”
You guys probably know very little about Nuggdad, so here’s a short thread!🧵
Over the years, his daughter has shared pictures of him enjoying the team on the Nuggets’ Reddit, and we all love him. If you have a few bucks to spare, we’re going to send him into the finals! https://t.co/0WYT1d3vd2 pic.twitter.com/Vp570dZKIR
— Alec Gwin (@alecgwin) May 31, 2023
The Lee family is originally from South Korea and moved to Colorado in 1999. But it wasn’t until 2019 that Jones became a fan of the Nuggets. Since coming to the United States, he has suffered from many health problems, including oral cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. In 2016, his wife, Insuk Lee, died after suffering a stroke while undergoing cancer treatment. In 2019, he moved in with his daughter, but how passionate his daughter was about the team made him a fan of the Nuggets.
While Jongsu owes much of his support to Junam, 36, this season, when Nuggets guard Jamal Murray returned from a torn knee, he felt a deeper connection to the team. rice field. Jones said he often feels depressed and unsure of how to move forward because of his many health problems, but seeing Murray bounce back from injury inspires him.
“It almost felt like a reflection of my life,” Jongsu said in Korean in an interview translated by Joohyun. “When I came back from surgery and was recovering from illness and pain, that gave me extra motivation, which is why I’m wearing Murray’s jersey.”
Juhyun found her father’s popularity on Reddit and created a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising money to send him and her sister to Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Donations were collected to reach her goal of $2,345.
and Nagdad was there He wore Murray’s jersey for the biggest game in Nuggets history up to that point. (The only thing missing was a neck pillow.) He plans to watch Monday’s Game 5 at home—tickets were too expensive—but he’s in high spirits and cheers for Murray’s victory. plan to do so.
“That’s what motivates me to stay healthy and find victories in whatever form I have throughout my life,” Jongsu said.
