Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, a mentor to two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and a former star player in his native Serbia, died Wednesday in Utah after suffering a heart attack, the team announced. Milojevic, part of the staff that helped the Warriors win the 2022 NBA championship, was 46, the AP reports. Milojevic died in Salt Lake City, where he was hospitalized after the medical emergency happened during a private team dinner on Tuesday night. The Warriors had been scheduled to play the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, a game the NBA postponed. Milojevic is survived by his wife, Natasa, and their children, Nikola and Masa.
"We are absolutely devastated by Dejan's sudden passing," coach Steve Kerr said in a statement released by the team. "This is a shocking and tragic blow for everyone associated with the Warriors and an incredibly difficult time for his family, friends, and all of us who had the incredible pleasure to work with him." The 6-foot-7 Milojevic was in his third season with the Warriors. He previously coached in Serbia—where he once worked with a young Jokic before the now-Denver Nuggets star came to the United States—along with Montenegro. He had been a head coach for eight years in Europe and previously was an assistant coach for the Serbian national team alongside current Atlanta assistant Igor Koskoskov.
"The NBA mourns the sudden passing of Golden State assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, a beloved colleague and dear friend to so many in the global basketball community," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "In addition to winning the 2022 NBA championship in his first season with the Warriors and mentoring some of the best players in the world, Dejan had a decorated international playing career and was a distinguished head coach in his native Serbia." No player has more Adriatic MVPs than Milojevic, and the stories of some games in his youth were legendary. Among them: how he scored 141 points as a 14-year-old in 1991, with 83 of those points coming in the second half after his coach ordered he take all the shots.
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