In 2019, Junam Lee started posting about her father, Jung Soo Lee, on a Denver Nuggets fan web page on Reddit, usually with feedback about how excited he was for an upcoming recreation. Nuggets followers shortly grew to become enamored with him due to how stoic and typically hilarious he appeared whereas watching the video games.
Then Junam posted an image of her father watching a recreation whereas sporting a journey neck pillow. Reddit customers cherished the picture a lot that they began calling him “Nuggdad.” Since then, every image of Jung Soo, 69, has been handled with practically the identical pleasure as a Nikola Jokic triple-double or an vital Nuggets win.
“Nuggdad has turn out to be a unifying image for our neighborhood,” mentioned Alec Gwin, who has been a part of the moderation workforce for the Reddit web page since 2014. He added: “I wouldn’t say that Reddit followers love him as a lot because the gamers, however that we have now all adopted him as our collective dad.”
Three years in the past, one consumer created a preferred illustration of Jung Soo in his signature relaxed place along with his arms folded whereas sporting his neck pillow. His son, Juhyun Lee, had someway been unaware of his father’s on-line fame till his mates confirmed him an image after the Nuggets beat the Lakers within the Western Convention finals this 12 months.
“They’re like, dude, that is your dad, isn’t it?” Juhyun, 39, mentioned whereas laughing. “And I used to be like yeah, that is wild.”
Hey everyone– most of y’all in all probability aren’t conscious of Nuggdad, so here is a brief thread!🧵
Over time his daughter has shared photos of him on Nuggets Reddit having fun with his workforce and all of us love him. You probably have a couple of dollars to spare, we’re making an attempt to ship him to the finals! https://t.co/0WYT1d3vd2 pic.twitter.com/Vp570dZKIR
— Alec Gwin (@alecgwin) May 31, 2023
The Lee household is initially from South Korea and moved to Colorado in 1999. However Jung Soo didn’t turn out to be a Nuggets fan till 2019. He had handled many well being points since coming to the USA, together with oral most cancers and rheumatoid arthritis. Throughout his most cancers therapy in 2016, his spouse, In Sook Lee, died after having a stroke. In 2019, he moved in along with his daughter, who turned him right into a Nuggets fan due to how passionate she was concerning the workforce.
Whereas Jung Soo supported the workforce largely due to Junam, 36, when Nuggets guard Jamal Murray returned from a knee tear this season he began to really feel a deeper reference to the workforce. Jung Soo’s many well being points usually make him really feel depressed and uncertain of how he’ll transfer ahead, he mentioned, however the best way Murray has bounced again from his damage has impressed him.
“It virtually felt like a mirrored image of my life,” Jung Soo mentioned in Korean throughout an interview translated by Juhyun. “After I was getting back from my surgical procedures and recovering from my sickness and ache, it gave me that additional motivation, in order that’s why I put on the Murray jersey.”
After Juhyun came upon about his father’s reputation on Reddit, he created a GoFundMe web page within the hopes of elevating sufficient to cash to ship his father to Sport 1 of the N.B.A. finals with him and his sister. The donations rolled in till they reached their objective of $2,345.
And there Nuggdad was at what was the largest recreation in Nuggets historical past to that time, sporting his Murray jersey. (The one factor lacking was his neck pillow.) He’ll be watching Sport 5 on Monday from dwelling — the tickets for this recreation had been far too costly — however he’ll be there in spirit and rooting for Murray to win a championship.
“That’s motivating for me to proceed to get wholesome and discover victories all through my life, in no matter they could seem like,” Jung Soo mentioned.