Steve Kerr said it was difficult to explain at first.
The Warriors have endured an emotional week, Kerr added, calling it “heartbreaking” and “devastating.” Among them, assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack during a team dinner on Tuesday.
They returned to practice Monday, and Kerr addressed reporters wearing a black shirt with “Brate,” the Serbian word for brother, and Milojevic's initials surrounded by a heart printed on the front.
“This is the saddest thing I've ever been in the NBA, losing someone so close to me and more importantly watching his family suffer,” Kerr told reporters. Told. So I think last week and his five days here have been full of all of the above. shock. Emotions. So much love overflowing from all over the world. ”
Kerr described the 46-year-old Milojevic as someone who “sees the good in people and the joy in life,” and has overlapped with the Warriors' coaching staff over the past two seasons, with whom they won a title during the 2021 season. . 22 seasons.
The Warriors watched as a team. Ceremony at the match between KK Partizan and KK Megabasket In Belgrade, each of the teams Milojevic played and coached was featured, and the sight of fans chanting inside the gymnasium showed “what Milojevic meant to his fellow countrymen,” Kerr said. .
“I've never seen the dedication of fans and organizations to Deki before a game,” Kerr said.
Milojevic, who played 14 seasons in Europe before turning to coaching, said he was “very non-threatening and non-threatening” as he laughed and had “a twinkle in his eye” even as he pushed the rest of the Warriors' coaching staff around during meetings. I was able to be open and honest and say, “It doesn't matter who you are,'' Kerr said.
“You changed my life in a very short amount of time,” Warriors shooting guard Brandin Poziemski wrote in X.
At Monday's press conference, Kerr also thanked Commissioner Adam Silver, the Mavericks and Jazz for making scheduling adjustments to postpone and ultimately reschedule the game. did.
“None of us were able to go out on the court on Wednesday or Friday and play a basketball game,” Kerr said.
One of Kerr's mentors, Ron Adams, became the person he turned to when figuring out how to help the Warriors moving forward, and at one point Kerr asked, “How do we move on from here?”
Adams, 76, who has been on Kerr's staff since taking over the Warriors in 2014, gave it some thought, Kerr recalled.
He then asked what Milojevic would have wanted the Warriors to do.
“I literally could picture Deki smiling and laughing and saying, 'Hey, moms, we've got to go win the basketball game,'” Kerr said. …That's exactly what he would have said with a smile.
