Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died on Wednesday at the age of 46.Milojevic suffered a heart attack Tuesday night during a dinner with Warriors coaches and players at a Salt Lake City restaurant. He was rushed to the hospital and was operated on, but did not survive.
A 15-year veteran of European basketball, the Serbian-born Milojevic was a three-time MVP of the Adriatic League and won gold at EuroBasket in 2001. After his playing career, he went on to coach Mega Vizura in Belgrade, where his players included two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, as well as future NBA players Ivica Zubac, Goga Bitadze and Vlatko Čančar.
In 2021, he won the Montenegrin League and Montenegrin Cup, then left to become an assistant with the Warriors that summer. His winning ways continued as the Warriors won the NBA championship in his first season as an assistant.
Milojevic’s specialty was working with big men, and that Warriors team got unusually strong contributions from players like Kevon Looney, whose rebounding improved tremendously, plus Otto Porter Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica. Even in this disappointing Warriors season, young bigs Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis emerged under the tutelage of Milojevic.
The NBA announced that Wednesday’s Warriors-Jazz game has been postponed indefinitely.
Milojevic’s death is a huge loss for the NBA and the basketball community all over the world. He was a legend as a player and a coach and will not soon be forgotten.
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