by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News January 18, 2024
Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević died Wednesday in Utah after suffering a heart attack, the team announced. He was 46.
Milojević died in Salt Lake City, where he was hospitalized Tuesday night after a medical emergency during a private team dinner. The Warriors had been scheduled to play the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, a game the NBA postponed.
“We are absolutely devastated by Dejan’s sudden passing,” coach Steve Kerr said in a statement released by the team. “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.”
Milojević was part of the staff that helped the Warriors win the 2022 NBA championship. He was a mentor to two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and a former star player in his native Serbia.
He is survived by his wife and two children.
The Warriors were at the center of a Covid vaccine controversy during the 2021-22 season. All-Star forward Andrew Wiggins adamantly had resisted the vaccine requirement and filed for a religious exemption. He was, however, denied and ultimately got vaccinated in order to play.
Even after he was selected to the All-Star game and was a key part of the Warriors’ NBA title team, Wiggins said he regretted getting the jab: “For my body, I just don’t like putting all that stuff in my body, so I didn’t like that and I didn’t like that it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t like that it was either get this or don’t play.”
Kerr had said in September 2021: “I believe in the vaccine. Our team believes in it. We are living in a world where everybody is divided, and everything becomes a political tool. You say one thing, and it gets weaponized, either for you or against you. You have to navigate all of this stuff delicately. We try to treat everybody with respect, and I think that’s all we can do: respect each other, try to communicate on a really sane level, and see where everything goes.”
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Died suddenly: Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević, 46 added by Editor Two on
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