(NEW YORK) — Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died from a heart attack suffered during a team dinner Tuesday night, according to the organization.
“We are absolutely devastated by Dejan’s sudden passing,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said in a statement. 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.”
Milojevic, 46, was hospitalized in Salt Lake City on Tuesday and died Wednesday morning.
The team was supposed to play the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, but the game has been postponed.
Milojevic was a star for the Serbian national team during the 90s and 2000s as well as on several European club teams. He was the Adriatic League MVP three times, according to the Warriors. He played for Serbian clubs Beovuk, FMP and Partizan, among others, before eventually transferring into coaching shortly after his retirement.
He coached for Mega Basket from 2012 to 2020, winning the Serbian Cup in 2016.
Among Milojevic’s players for Mega Basket was Nikola Jokic from 2012 to 2015, joining the team at just 17 years old. Jokic has since gone on to win two league MVP awards with the Denver Nuggets.
“With an extreme pain and huge sadness we have received news that today our Deki has left us in his 46th year of life,” Mega Basket said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Milojevic joined the Warriors in 2021 and won a championship with the team in 2022.
“In addition to being a terrific basketball coach, Dejan was one of the most positive and beautiful human beings I have ever know, someone who brought joy and light to every single day with his passion and energy,” Kerr added. “We grieve with and for his wife, Natasa, and their children, Nikola and Masa. Their loss is unfathomable.”
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