| Toronto Raptors | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1979-02-22)22 February 1979 (age 46) |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Coaching career | 1996–present |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| 1996–1999 | Borac Čačak (youth) |
| 1999–2007 | Crvena zvezda (youth) |
| 2009–2012 | Espacio Torrelodones |
| 2012–2014 | Tulsa 66ers |
| 2014–2019 | Oklahoma City Thunder (assistant) |
| 2019–2020 | Phoenix Suns (assistant) |
| 2020–2023 | Memphis Grizzlies (assistant) |
| 2023–present | Toronto Raptors |
| Career highlights | |
| As assistant coach: | |
Darko Rajaković (Serbian Cyrillic:Дарко Рајаковић; born 22 February 1979) is a Serbian professionalbasketball coach who is the head coach for theToronto Raptors of theNational Basketball Association (NBA).
Rajaković was the head coach of theTulsa 66ers of theNBA G League for two seasons and the first head coach in NBA G League history born outside ofNorth America.[1] Rajaković went on to become an assistant coach for theOklahoma City Thunder,Phoenix Suns andMemphis Grizzlies prior to becoming the head coach of theToronto Raptors.[2]
Rajaković earned his degree in basketball coaching from the Belgrade Basketball Academy in 2004[3] and earned his degree insports management fromAlfa BK University in 2006.
Rajaković began his coaching career at 16 years old withBorac Čačak inČačak, Serbia.[4] Following his three-year stint in Čačak, Rajaković was named the head coach for theCrvena zvezda youth system in Belgrade.[5] During his eight years in Belgrade, Rajaković led Crvena zvezda to two Serbian Youth championships.[6] To increase his basketball coaching acumen and knowledge, Rajaković spent time withLute Olson at theUniversity of Arizona (2003) andMike Krzyzewski atDuke University (2007) and attended team practices and meetings at both universities.[7][8]
From 2004 to 2011, Rajaković served as a scouting consultant andNBA Summer League assistant coach for theSan Antonio Spurs.[7]
In 2009, Rajaković become the head coach of Espacio Torrelodones of the SpanishEBA League (4th-tier). Rajaković excelled in both recruiting and developing players. In his first season, Rajaković led the Torrelodones to thePrimera Division – Community of Madrid Group (5th-tier) title, promoting the team to the Liga EBA.[6] In the2010–11 Liga EBA season, the Torrelodones finished 7th in Group B with a 16–14 record. In thenext season and his last as their coach, the Torrelodones finished 8th in Group B with the same record as for season before.
In 2012, Rajaković became the head coach of theTulsa 66ers of theNBA Development League. Rajaković led Tulsa to a combined 51–49 record over two seasons, including a 27–23 record and NBA D-League Semifinals appearance in2012–13. During his time with the 66ers, Tulsa was assigned seven players fromOklahoma City a total of 50 times (the most in the league during that stretch), including Oklahoma City players such asReggie Jackson,Perry Jones,Jeremy Lamb andAndré Roberson. Rajaković witnessed five of his Tulsa players receive call-ups to the NBA, including four to the Oklahoma City Thunder (Grant Jerrett,Daniel Orton,Mustafa Shakur andReggie Williams). He coached 11 Tulsa players over the two years who were on an NBA roster in the2013–14 season.[6]
On 5 July 2014, Rajaković was named assistant coach of theOklahoma City Thunder.[1] During his time with the Thunder, Rajaković helped develop many players, includingSteven Adams,Andre Roberson,Terrance Ferguson,Victor Oladipo,Dennis Schröder andAlex Abrines.[9][10][11] Rajaković served as the Thunder's head coach at NBA Summer League in 2014 and 2015. He was on the Western ConferenceAll-Star Team coaching staff in 2014.[7] Rajaković helped lead the Thunder to the playoffs four consecutive seasons (2016,2017,2018 and2019), making it to the 2016NBA Western Conference Finals.
On 26 June 2019, Rajaković was hired as an assistant coach for thePhoenix Suns.[12]
On 13 September 2020, Rajaković was hired as an assistant coach for theMemphis Grizzlies.[13] On 11 January 2022, Rajaković as the interim head coach led the Grizzlies to a 116–108 win over theGolden State Warriors.[14] It was his head coaching debut in NBA.[15] After his fellow Serbian countrymanIgor Kokoškov, he is the second European who led an NBA team in a regular season game.[16][17] Rajaković finished his stint as the interim head coach with a 4–1 record.
In May 2022, Rajaković was featured inESPN's annual report on potential coaching candidates to watch. The article stated:[18]
People all over the coaching world, as well as players who have benefited from his grasp of the game, rave about Darko Rajakovic. That makes a lot of sense when you consider he has been poached twice—Phoenix and Memphis—over the past couple of years by incoming head coaches assembling a staff from scratch. A European head coach has yet to break through with a sustained career in the NBA, but Rajakovic (Serbia) has the intellect and passion for the craft that makes him the current morning-line favorite to become the first. The man has authored academic-journal style articles about the evolution of the pick-and-roll, but he's anything but academic in his warmth with players and fellow coaches.
On 13 June 2023, Rajaković was hired by theToronto Raptors as the10th head coach in franchise history.[19]
Rajaković was fined $25,000 after he used his post-game press conference to speak out against the NBA's officiating in a 132–131 loss to theLos Angeles Lakers on 10 January 2024, which he felt was biased towards the Lakers and giving the Raptors unfair disadvantages.[20]
On July 18, 2019, Rajaković was hired as an assistant coach for theSerbia men's national basketball team underAleksandar Đorđević.[21] He made his debut at the2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup where Serbia came in fifth place.
On 9 May 2024, Rajaković and his wife Gaga donated US$46,700 toSick Kids hospital inToronto, St. Jude Research Hospital inMemphis and to the University Children Hospital inBelgrade. The donation was a result of a commitment of Darko and his family to donate US$20 for every assist theRaptors made.[22] Rajakovic and his wife both officially became naturalizedUS Citizens on April 14, 2023.[23]
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tulsa | 2012–13 | 50 | 27 | 23 | .540 | 3rd in Central | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Lost Semifinals |
| Tulsa | 2013–14 | 50 | 24 | 26 | .480 | 5th in Central | – | Missed playoffs | |||
| Career | 100 | 51 | 49 | .510 | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | |||
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 2023–24 | 82 | 25 | 57 | .305 | 5th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Toronto | 2024–25 | 82 | 30 | 52 | .366 | 3rd in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Career | 164 | 55 | 109 | .335 | — | — | — | — | |||