In January last year, the Warriors season became a distant priority after the sudden passing of their assistant coach Dejan Milojevic. During a team dinner in Utah, the assistant coach suffered a heart attack and sadly passed away. It shook the players and the personnel of the franchise. The season became less about chasing glory, and more about dedicating their success and striving to ‘Deki’ a beloved member of the club. To this day, his loss remains fresh in the minds of few.

In particular the head coach Steve Kerr. The nine-time champion was extremely close to the Serbian. As the Warriors called him ‘Brate’, translated to brother, his death broke Kerr. “It’s just the saddest thing I’ve ever been a part of in the NBA,” he admitted. The trauma though runs so deep, that even traveling to Utah is something he isn’t looking forward to.

After a perfect preseason, the Bay will begin their regular season with two games on the road. The second being in Salt Lake City, the memories of Milojevic came flooding back to Steve Kerr. While his voice did slightly break, he managed to express his true feelings about the road trip. “Yeah, that’s a tough one. We went back there last year after his death. That was difficult so not looking forward to that trip for that reason,” he said in his press conference. 

Naturally, it wasn’t just Steve Kerr who was deeply hurt by his “wonderful friend’s” passing. Draymond Green realized the fragility of life. After the Jordan Poole incident, he intentionally distanced himself from his teammates, focusing solely on recovery and basketball. However, the sudden demise of his assistant coach reminded him of what’s important.

“So, for me, that was just a big reminder that you are missing the fun part of it. So, everything you’re doing is just to prepare to get ready. You’re missing the fun part of it,” he opened up to Andscape.

How the Warriors honored Dejan Milojevic

After having two games postponed to properly deal with the loss of one of their own, the Warriors resumed their season at the Chase Center. They held an emotional ceremony, remembering Milojevic’s life and his time as a Warrior. His usual seat had a ‘Brate’ t-shirt over it, and it remained empty until the end of the night.

The night was emotional. Green and several other Warrior players shed tears while wearing his initials ‘DM’ on their jerseys. At the same time, they knew the ultimate tribute for the Serb would be by clinching a dominant win. And so they posted 134 points on the Atlanta Hawks, a season-high mark during the season.

Curry, who made the first basket of the night pointed both his fingers to the sky. It was his way of honoring the late assistant coach who established a system of accountability and companionship within the franchise. “You know Deki would love nothing more than to see us go out there compete and have fun as best we can,” the Chef said reflecting on their thumping win.

Even though it’s been over a year, and the Warriors have been back to Utah, it will probably always be tough to visit the city. No matter how many times they do, it remains to be the capsule of their memories of Milojevic. Still, it’s his spirit that runs in their hearts. No matter how emotionally draining, the Bay will fight and compete.

And while not a fruitful trip, Steve Kerr will have additional motivation to pull off a win to honor his great friend.