Dejan Milojević, an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, died of a heart attack on Wednesday, according to a team statement. He was 46.
“We are absolutely devastated by Dejan’s sudden passing,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “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.”
Kerr characterized Milojević as a “positive” and “beautiful” individual who “brought joy and light to every single day.”
“We grieve with and for his wife, Natasa, and their children, Nikola and Masa,” according to Kerr. “Their loss in unfathomable.”
Milojević was hospitalized in Salt Lake City on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack at a private team meal, according to a Warriors statement.
Hours earlier, the NBA stated on X (previously Twitter) that a game between the Warriors and the Utah Jazz scheduled for Wednesday night had been postponed due to “a medical emergency in the Warriors family.”
Milojević, a Serbian native, was in his third season as the Warriors’ assistant coach. He was a member of the coaching staff that led the squad to the 2022 NBA Championship.
He was previously the head coach of KK Budućnost Voli, a European basketball club in Montenegro.
Prior to that, he was the head coach of Serbian basketball club KK Mega Bemax. In 2019, he was named Serbia’s national team assistant coach.
Milojević previously worked on the staffs of several NBA clubs, including the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, and San Antonio Spurs.
Milojević won three consecutive MVP titles during his professional basketball career in the Adriatic League.
On Wednesday, Warriors youngster Brandon Podziemski lamented his passing on X.
“You changed my life in such a short time,” he said. “The most essential thing you ever told me was to simply smile! Your joy and laughter will be missed forever. Shine down on us from heaven. “Rest in peace, Dejan Milojević.”
The NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, issued a statement recognizing Milojević as a “beloved colleague.”
“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,” he told reporters.
