San Francisco (Kron) — Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died of a heart attack Tuesday night at a private team dinner in Salt Lake City, the team announced Wednesday.
“We are completely devastated by the news of Dejan's sudden passing,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “This is a shocking and tragic blow to everyone associated with the Warriors, his family, friends and all of us who had the incredible pleasure of working with him. It was an incredibly difficult time. In addition to being a great basketball coach, Dejan was one of the most positive and beautiful human beings I have ever known.”
The Warriors were in Salt Lake ahead of Wednesday night's game against the Utah Jazz. The NBA is already postponed That game.
Milojevic was having dinner with several players and coaches on Wednesday night when he was taken to Nexstar KTVX, a Salt Lake City-area hospital. report.
Despite life-saving efforts, the 46-year-old coach died late Wednesday morning.
“We are saddened by his wife Natasa and their children Nicola and Masa,” the Warriors said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Milojevic was in his third season as an assistant coach with the Warriors. He was part of the team's coaching staff heading into the 2022 NBA Championship. Milojevic is from Belgrade, Serbia. He played professional baseball internationally for 14 years before becoming a coach.
Milojevic's death was first reported by TMZ And in a tweet from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
“The NBA is mourning the sudden passing of Golden State assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, who was a beloved colleague and dear friend to many in the world of basketball,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “I will.” “In addition to winning the 2022 NBA Championship in his first season with the Warriors and coaching some of the best players in the world, Dejan has had an illustrious playing career internationally and is well known in his native Serbia. He was also a great head coach.”
Milojevic won three straight Adriatic League MVP awards, winning those trophies in 2004, 2005 and 2006 when the 6-foot-7, 240-pound power forward was at the peak of his playing career.
No player has won more MVP awards in the Adriatic than Milojevic, and the stories of some of his early matches are legendary. Among them: how he scored 141 points as a 14-year-old in 1991, 83 of which came in the second half after his coach told him to take every shot. was.
“I teach all my players that basketball is not a job, you should enjoy the game,” Milojevic told Bosnian radio television station RTV in a 2018 interview. “Because if you want to do something for the next 20 years, you have to love it very much. It's not easy to endure all these efforts if you don't like it. Have a genuine love for the game Only people can make everything a great success.”
Before joining the Warriors, Milojevic gained NBA experience as a summer league assistant coach in Atlanta, San Antonio and Houston.
The NBA said the dates for the rescheduled games will be announced at a later date.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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