Tears fell on the faces of many Golden State Warriors players before and right at the start of the match this morning.
They have not played for more than a week, and the NBA specifically postponed 3 games because of a special incident. Last Wednesday Vietnam time, assistant coach Dejan Milojević had a stroke while having dinner with the team and unfortunately passed away the next day.
The morale of the entire Golden State team hit rock bottom after this incident, causing them to be unable to reach their physical and mental performance.
After spending 7 days mentally calming down, coach Steve Kerr’s team took the field again today (January 25) against the Atlanta Hawks.
“I just tell the players to try to relax and not think too much in this match. I know competing is not an easy task for the whole team” , Warriors captain shared.
“I’m proud of my students that they did a great job trying to suppress their emotions and focus on the competition. Actually, the atmosphere is still very emotional. Many players were in tears when the match started.”
Despite having to play with heavy legs and arms, the duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson shined with 25 and 24 points respectively, with the “chef” adding 8 assists.
Adding Jonathan Kuminga’s perfect game with 11-11 FG (25 points), the Golden State Warriors beat the Atlanta Hawks 134-112.
“ Last week was an extremely difficult time for the whole team. We tried to unite, go out and show the Golden State Warriors signature basketball to the fans.
That’s what we always want to do, especially it’s what Deki wants us to do in every single match ,” Kuminga said after the match equaling legendary Chris Mullin’s 100% FG record.
The name “Deki” mentioned in Kuminga’s interview is the affectionate name that the entire Warriors team has for the late assistant Dejan Milojević.
To pay tribute to the Serbian assistant coach, the Golden State Warriors joined with rival Atlanta Hawks to hold a moment of silence and play the Serbian national anthem before the match.
Milojević jerseys were worn by Warriors players for warm-ups. Chris Paul and Gary Payton II were unable to play due to injury, but both also wore Milojević shirts on the bench.
Each seat in Golden State’s technical area has a black T-shirt printed with the words “BRATE”, which roughly translates to “brother” in Serbian. This is how assistant coach Milojević often calls Warriors players.
On the other side of the front line, two members of the Atlanta Hawks have a direct connection to the late assistant Deki: defender Bogdan Bogdanovic and assistant Igor Kokoskov. Both are members of the Serbian national team and have worked with Dejan Milojević.
Before coming to the NBA, Dejan Milojević played professionally from 1994 to 2009 in Europe. He then entered the coaching career from 2012 to 2021.
Although he is new to the NBA and has worked for the Golden State Warriors for 3 years, Dejan Milojević has left a deep impression on this team thanks to his kindness, approachability and professionalism.
Coach Steve Kerr shared that anyone who meets Milojević will have a good impression of this coach, clearly feeling the love for basketball as well as the affection that the coach born in 1977 brings.
