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Golden State Warriors ᴀssistant coach Dejan Milojevic was buried Monday in his native Serbia, with head coach Steve Kerr among the hundreds of mourners present for the funeral on a rainy day at a Belgrade cemetery.
Milojevic, a former basketball star and mentor to two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, died at the age of 46 last month after suffering a heart attack while out at a team dinner in Salt Lake City.
The 6-foot-7 retired power forward left behind a wife and two children.
As well as Kerr, who will miss the Warriors’ rescheduled game against the Utah Jazz on Monday night, several other Golden State coaches and staff made the trip to Serbia for Milojevic’s funeral.
ᴀssistant coaches Chris DeMarco and Ron Adams were present in Belgrade, along with general manager Mike Dunleavy, team basketball and business liaison Zaza Pachulia, and team vice president for player health and performance Rick Celebrini.
Warriors ᴀssistant coach Dejan Milojevic was buried Monday in his native Serbia, with head coach Steve Kerr among the hundreds of mourners present
Milojevic died at the age of 46 last month after a fatal heart attack while out at a team dinner
The former basketball star and coach was laid to rest at his funeral in Belgrade on Monday
Kerr was one of several Golden State coaches and staff to attend Milojevic’s funeral
The Warriors were in Salt Lake City when Milojevic had a heart attack at Valter’s Osteria – a popular Italian restaurant frequented by NBA coaches and players – on January 16. He died the next day, with that night’s Jazz-Warriors game postponed.
ᴀssistant coach Kenny Atkinson will act as head coach for the rescheduled game.
Milojevic – whose flower-draped casket was carried Monday by his former Serbian teammates – was a mentor to Jokic of the Denver Nuggets among many other players.
He was also part of the staff that helped the Warriors win the 2022 NBA championship.
Golden State has honored his memory by putting his initials on their jerseys and on the apron of their home floor.
‘It’s hard to describe the week – heartbreaking, devastating,’ Kerr said after Milojevic’s death last moth while wearing a shirt which read ‘BROTHER’ in Serbian. ‘It’s just the saddest thing I’ve ever been a part of in the NBA.
The former ᴀssistant was at Valter’s Osteria – a popular Italian restaurant in Salt Lake City frequented by NBA coaches and players – when he suffered the heart attack
‘Where we lose someone who’s so close to us and then more importantly, seeing his family suffer. So this last week has been… full of all of the above. The shock, the emotion, the extreme outpouring of love from all over the world.’
‘He was just a guy who constantly saw the good in people and the joy in life,’ Kerr later added of Milojevic.
‘When you’re coming into a season that goes from seven to nine months, that’s exactly the kind of person I wanna be with every day.’
