Heart attack in the team circle
NBA assistant coach dies shortly after team dinner
January 17, 2024, 10:48 p.m
A tragedy is unfolding in the North American professional basketball league NBA. Dejan Milojevic suffers a heart attack at a Golden State Warriors team dinner. The assistant coach is taken to a hospital. Now the team from San Francisco reports the death of the 46-year-old.
The NBA’s Golden State Warriors are mourning the loss of their assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, who died suddenly at the age of 46. As the team around superstar Stephen Curry from San Francisco announced, the Serb died of a heart attack. The Warriors’ game at Utah Jazz in the evening (local time) was canceled.
“We are devastated by Dejan’s sudden death,” said head coach Steve Kerr. “In addition to being an outstanding basketball coach, Dejan was also one of the most positive and wonderful people I have ever known.” As the Warriors previously announced, Milojevic was hospitalized after a “medical emergency” during a team dinner in Salt Lake City on Tuesday evening. The NBA had postponed the Warriors’ basketball game against the Utah Jazz, scheduled for Wednesday evening (local time), indefinitely hours before the death was announced.
Milojević worked for the team in his third season and was best known in professional circles for having played a major role in the development of Nikola Jokić from the Denver Nuggets. Jokić also comes from Serbia and has been the league’s most valuable player twice in recent years. NBA boss Adam Silver expressed his condolences to Milojević’s family and described him as a “well-liked colleague and good friend.”
Milojevic has been Kerr’s assistant with the Warriors since 2021, with whom he won the NBA title in 2022. Previously, as head coach, he won the Serbian Cup (2016) with Mega Basket from Belgrade and the double in Montenegro (2021) with Buducnost Podgorica.
As a player, he was a forward of international class and became European champion with Serbia and Montenegro in 2001. Wearing the Partizan Belgrade jersey, he was MVP of the Adriatic Basketball League (ABA) three times in a row (2004 to 2006) with the teams from the former Yugoslavia.