Dejan Milojević died Wednesday after suffering a heart attack.

The Golden State Warriors said that assistant coach Dejan Milojević, who was a former standout player in his home Serbia and a mentor to two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, passed away in Utah on Wednesday due to a heart attack. Milojević, 46, was a member of the team that assisted the Warriors in winning the NBA title in 2022.

Milojević passed away in Salt Lake City, where he was admitted to the hospital following a medical crisis that occurred on Tuesday evening during a private team meal. The NBA postponed the Warriors’ scheduled Wednesday night matchup against the Utah Jazz.

In a statement made public by the club, coach Steve Kerr said, “We are absolutely devastated by Dejan’s sudden passing.” “This is an extremely difficult time for his family, friends, and all of us who had the incredible pleasure of working with him. It is a shocking and tragic blow for everyone associated with the Warriors.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement regarding the passing of Milojević:

“The NBA mourns the sudden passing of Golden State assistant coach Dejan Milojević, a beloved colleague and dear friend to so many in the global basketball community.  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.  Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, Natasa, their children, Nikola and Masa, and the Warriors organization during this tragic time.”

Milojević was a three-year member of the Warriors. He has previously served as a coach in Montenegro and Serbia, where he once worked with a young Jokic before the current Denver Nuggets star moved to the United States. Before joining current Atlanta assistant Igor Koskoskov as an assistant coach, he had served as head coach for eight years in Europe while coaching the Serbian national team.

During his stint as a coach in Europe, Milojević collaborated closely with a number of players, including Jokic, Ivica Zubac of the Los Angeles Clippers, Goga Bitadze of Orlando, and Boban Marjanovic of Houston. He mostly collaborated with big men like Kevon Looney during his time with the Warriors, and Looney praised Milojević’s meticulousness.

The Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic posted on social media, “Rest in peace, Deki.”

Kerr claimed that Kent Lacob, the son of Golden State owner Joe Lacob, was the one who first introduced him to Milojević. Furthermore, Kerr made the decision to go after Milojević in 2021 after the Warriors had a few personnel adjustments. After considerable persuasion, Milojević accepted the offer. Kerr was ecstatic.

“I knew right away what Kent was talking about,” Kerr remarked in a Warriors film from the previous year. It was a pleasure to be around him. In addition, he had an incredible background in basketball as a coach and player. Bringing Deki in was a logical decision.

Milojević won three consecutive MVP awards in the Adriatic League,

claiming three titles in 2004, 2005, and 2006, during the height of his playing career, as a 6-foot-7, 240-pound power forward. One year after current Golden State forward Dario Saric won the MVP award in that league, Jokic won it again in 2015.

Milojević is the player with the most Adriatic MVPs, and there are legends around some of his early games. Among them was the time he scored 141 points in 1991 at the age of 14, 83 of which came in the second half after his coach told him to take all the shots.

“In an interview with Bosnian radio-television station RTV in 2018, I teach all of my players that basketball is not a job, but that they should enjoy the game,” Milojević said. “Because you have to really love something if you want to pursue it for the next 20 years.” It’s difficult to put up with all of these attempts if you find anything objectionable. The only people who can manage everything with remarkable accomplishment are those who genuinely love the game.

Milojević worked as an assistant coach in the Summer League for Atlanta, San Antonio, and Houston before to joining the Warriors.

Tributes began pouring in after Milojević’s death was announced,

from both teams he collaborated with and those he didn’t. Mike Brown, the current coach of Sacramento and a former assistant for the Golden State Warriors, stated, “I had the pleasure of working with Dejan during my time with the Warriors.” “He was not just a very gifted coach, but an even better person.”

Longtime international player Dylan Ennis, who was formerly Milojević’s coach, continued, saying, “You were not only a basketball master, you were an amazing human being.” Many people will miss you.

It took some time for the Warriors vs. Jazz game to get rescheduled. The Jazz said that the rescheduled game on Wednesday night would accept tickets for that night. The next game Golden State has scheduled is a home game versus Dallas on Friday.

The children of Milojević and his wife, Masa and Nikola, survive him.

“Their loss is incomprehensible,” Kerr remarked.