SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Warriors paid an emotional tribute to Dejan Milojevic on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time) as the team returned to play for the first time since the Serbian assistant coach died last week from a heart attack.
In a moving pre-game ceremony ahead of the Warriors' home game against Atlanta, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr led a lengthy ovation to salute the 46-year-old affectionately known as "Deki".
Warriors players wore team jerseys emblazoned with Milojevic's name while the Serbian national anthem was played in honor of the late coach.
Players then placed their jerseys on Milojevic's usual seat on the Warriors bench.
Warriors players also wore t-shirts with the word "Brate" — "brother" in Serbian — during the warm-up. That gesture was mirrored in Dallas, where Mavericks star Luka Doncic wore the same t-shirt ahead of his team's clash with Phoenix.
"The world lost a beautiful soul last week," Kerr told a hushed Chase Center crowd on Wednesday. "Deki was a wonderful friend, a hell of a basketball coach, a great man and most importantly, a beautiful grandson, son, husband and father.
"What he meant to us is a huge part of who we are. He's a part of our soul. The outpouring of love that we received this past week from all over the world … is a direct reflection of the joy and love that he brought to everybody he met.
"So tonight, rather than a moment of silence, I'd like for all of us to give Deki an ovation that he can hear up in heaven."
Milojevic, who played in Spain and Turkey as well as his homeland, where he began his coaching career, joined the Warriors as an assistant in 2021.
He was part of the staff on the team that won the NBA championship in 2022.
He died last week after collapsing during a team dinner in Salt Lake City, plunging the Warriors and the NBA community into mourning.
Warriors players will play with a patch bearing Milojevic's initials — "DM" — on team jerseys for the remainder of the season. A DM logo inside a heart will also remain on the Warriors home court for the rest of the season.