Will Hardy pays respects to Golden State assistant Dejan Milojevic as Warriors continue to grieve
It’s hard to find someone in the basketball world that didn’t know, love or respect Dejan Milojevic.
The Golden State Warriors assistant coach, who died Wednesday morning after suffering a heart attack at a team dinner in Salt Lake City, was a major influence on many in the NBA.
“Dejan was on our staff in San Antonio when I coached Summer League,” Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy said Thursday. “He is as advertised, one of the most joyous, happy, positive people I’ve ever been around in my life.”
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Hardy said that he was shocked at how Milojevic, with his extensive basketball resume, treated a young, scatterbrained, scared coach who was in charge of the San Antonio Spurs Summer League squad.
“But more than that, I’ll always just remember being together for a month over the course of Summer League,” Hardy said. “You spend a lot of time together away from the court ... I was lucky to call him a friend. I wish I would have got to know him better.”
The NBA schedule for the Warriors took a backseat as tragedy set in. Milojevic’s family flew to Utah on Wednesday morning and the team eventually returned to its hotel, unsure of what to do next.
"I told my guys I loved them."
An emotional Darko Rajaković on his pre-game message to the Raptors.
Darko also dedicated the win to the late Dejan Milojević. pic.twitter.com/6kk2GdjRZC— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 18, 2024
The game scheduled between the Warriors and Jazz for Wednesday night was postponed.
As the messages of love and support continued throughout the night from around the league, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in town to face the Jazz on what was supposed to be the second night of a back-to-back for Utah on Thursday, came face-to-face with the team in mourning.
“Just want to send our thoughts out to Golden State,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They were in our hotel last night. We saw some of their staff clearly shocked and grieving, so we’re thinking of them.”
On Thursday night, the Toronto Raptors coach, who knew Milojevic for decades, dedicated the game to his late friend and paid tribute by using a play he’d learned from Milojevic on the Raptors’ opening drive.
The Warriors were scheduled to return home to face the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, but that game has also been postponed.
The Utah Jazz announced that tickets for Wednesday’s game would be honored when the game is rescheduled. It has not been announced when the Warriors will make up the games that have been postponed.
