Over the past 24 hours, the NBA world has mourned the loss of Dejan Milojevic. Stories are beginning to surface on how the Golden State Warriors are handling the tragic death of their assistant coach.
The assistant coach was rushed to hospital Wednesday due to a medical emergency in Salt Lake City. Later that day, news broke that Milojevic expired at the age of 46.
Warriors insider Monte Poole named center Kevon Looney as one of the players who took Dejan Milojevic’s death hard. The two likely formed a close bond, as the former pro exclusively worked with frontcourt players under coach Steve Kerr.
“Kevon Looney was particularly crushed by this. To see that this happened at a team dinner, all the players were there, the coaching staff were there,” Poole said on the Dubs Talk podcast.
“There were 30-45 people in the room. The restaurant had closed down for the Warriors to have their dinner there.”
As the Warriors continue to work through this tough time, the NBA has decided to postpone a handful of their games. They did not play on Wednesday against the Utah Jazz, and their matchup with the Dallas Mavericks on Friday has also been moved.
Toronto Raptors honored Dejan Milojevic
Between being a pro overseas for 15 years and an assistant coach in the NBA, Dejan Milojevic built a lot of relationships through basketball. Among the people he was extremely close with was Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic. He has taken this news hard but did something special to honor his late friend.
The Raptors took the floor Wednesday against the Miami Heat. During the opening play of the game, Rajakovic decided to call a play Dejan Milojevic made.
The Raptors scored on the opening possession and went on to beat Miami that night. After the game, it emerged that Toronto dedicated the win to Milojevic.
During his pre-game availability with the media, Rajakovic got emotional talking about the loss of his friend. He took the time to honor not only what he did as a player but as a coach as well.
Milojevic was a six-foot-seven forward who played professionally in Europe from 1994 to 2009. He was a three-time ABA League MVP and won three championships in the YUBA League.
Three years after he retired, Milojevic got into coaching. He coached in Europe from 2012 to 2021, mainly for Mega Basket. In 2021, he got a call from the Golden State Warriors to be an assistant. A year later, he was a part of their championship-winning team.
