 Milojević as head coach ofMega in 2020 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1977-04-15)15 April 1977 |
| Died | 17 January 2024(2024-01-17) (aged 46) |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 254 lb (115 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 1999:undrafted |
| Playing career | 1994–2009 |
| Position | Power forward |
| Number | 13, 31 |
| Coaching career | 2012–2024 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1994–1998 | Beovuk |
| 1998–2000 | FMP |
| 2000–2004 | Budućnost |
| 2004–2006 | Partizan |
| 2006–2008 | Pamesa Valencia |
| 2008–2009 | Galatasaray |
| 2009 | Partizan |
Coaching | |
| 2012–2020 | Mega Basket |
| 2021 | Budućnost |
| 2021–2024 | Golden State Warriors (assistant) |
| Career highlights | |
As player:
As head coach:
As assistant coach: | |
Medals | |
Dejan Milojević (Serbian Cyrillic:Дејан Милојевић; 15 April 1977 – 17 January 2024) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. At the time of his death, he was an assistant coach for theGolden State Warriors of theNational Basketball Association (NBA).
Standing at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), Milojević played professionally as apower forward from 1994 until 2009, appearing for the FR Yugoslavia /Serbia and Montenegro league teamsBeovuk,FMP,Budućnost andPartizan, as well as forPamesa Valencia in Spain, andGalatasaray in Turkey. He was named theAdriatic League Most Valuable Player three times in a row. Milojević played on theFR Yugoslavia national team, winningEuroBasket gold in2001.
Three years after his 2009 retirement from playing professional basketball, Milojević became a head coach forMega Basket of theAdriatic Basketball Association (ABA). There, he coached futureNBA All-Star andNBA MVPNikola Jokić. In the 2015–16 season, he coached Mega to their first-ever trophy, theSerbian Cup, as well as their firstABA League finals appearance. In 2021, he wonMontenegrin League andMontenegrin Cup titles with Budućnost.
In addition to club coaching, Milojević had a coaching stint with theSerbian national team from December 2019 until September 2021, assisting head coachIgor Kokoškov.
Born inBelgrade, Milojević was raised in thesuburb ofPadinska Skela.
Milojević began pursuing organized basketball at age 13, signing up for theKK Tašmajdan youth categories in 1990 through a friend who had already been playing there.[2] Starting out in KK Tašmajdan's youth system, teenage Milojević quickly began dominating over his age group, scoring 141 points in a 202–52 cadet (under-16) win versusOKK Beograd under-16 team in 1991, a still-standing record.[3][4][2]
His professional career began withBeovuk in 1994. He played there until 1998.
After winning gold with theFR Yugoslavia under-22 national team at the1998 '22 and Under' European Championship, 21-year-old Milojević joined theYUBA League clubFMP from the Belgrade suburb ofŽeleznik. The club had won theYugoslav Cup in recent past (1997); however, instead of adding to the cup-winning squad in search of more trophies, FMP—led by ownerNebojša Čović and sporting directorRatko Radovanović—decided to immediately start selling it off and turn to producing and nurturing young talent in an academy-like setup. The team still managed to make YUBA League playoff finals in the1997–98 season; however, the wholesale clearance of the squad (most of them over the age of 23) continued, withNikola Jestratijević,Goran Bošković andDejan Radonjić leaving.[5] The squad that Milojević arrived to in summer 1998 thus, almost exclusively, featured fellow young players (either brought up through the FMP youth system or acquired from smaller teams throughout the FR Yugoslav constituent units ofSerbia andMontenegro), such as 22-year-old power forward-centerGoran Nikolić, 23-year-old center Dragan Basarić, defensively minded 21-year-oldswingmanVeselin Petrović, 22-year-old shooting guardAleksandar Smiljanić, 22-year-old power forward Aleksandar Matić, and supremely talented 17-year-old small forwardMladen Šekularac. Also joining FMP from Beovuk, alongside Milojević, was 19-year-old fellow power forward-centerOgnjen Aškrabić.
Beginning the1998–99 season under head coachBoško Đokić, the young FMP team would be taken over by coachAco Petrović over the course of the season. Playing the small forward position (due to being adjudged to be too small for a power forward), Milojević started the season as the team's fourth or fifth option on offense, playing up to 10–15 minutes per game, with his poor outside shooting preventing him from having a bigger role on the team. FMP managed to pull an upset in the very first game of the league season, beating the reigning championsCrvena zvezda 73–72 behind Vesa Petrović's 21 points as well as his suffocating defence.[6] FMP managed another notable upset in week 6, destroying the favoredPartizan 102–84 with Petrović again leading the pack with 25 points.[6] Small forward role player Milojević would soon be given a chance at power forward by coach Petrović at a few warm-up games due the team's entire front line of Nikolić, Aškrabić and Basarić getting injured. Seeing that the power forward spot suited the player much better, coach Petrović continued playing Milojević at the four position despite being considered undersized for it. Playing high energy basketball, the young team managed some notable scalps that season—including beating both Partizan and Crvena zvezda—en route to an 11–11mid-table league finish, well out of the spots for playoff that did not even end up being played due to theNATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia starting on 24 March 1999.
FMP qualified for the 1999Yugoslav Cup final tournament, played in extraordinary circumstances underair-raid sirens and threat of aerial bombardment on 20–21 April 1999 at Belgrade'sPionir Hall.[7] After defeatingKK Radnički Belgrade in the semis, FMP lost heavily, 80–62, to theVladislav Lučić-coached Partizan team featuringDejan Tomašević,Haris Brkić,Miroslav Radošević andDragan Lukovski, with Milojević scoring the game-high 22 points in front of a packed arena with 7,000 spectators who at one point held up 'Target' signs protesting the NATO assault on Yugoslavia.[7][6]
While playing a couple of seasons for the club Milojević became famous for hisblue-collar and never-quit style of playing. He averaged adouble-double in both of his seasons with FMP and won the leagueMVP award in 1999.
In 2000, Milojević moved to the Podgorica-based Budućnost, where he won his firstNational Championship in 2001. He spent three more seasons there, improving his skills and his game every year. Already a dominating inside presence, he improved his three-point and free-throw shooting, an area in which he struggled a lot in the early years. While in Budućnost he won a couple more league MVP awards, in 2003 and 2004.
Milojević joined the FR Yugoslav championsBudućnost during summer 2000 in a big-money acquisition that saw the Podgorica club reportedly pay FMP a transfer fee in excess ofDM1 million (~€600,000).[8] Furthermore, during the same transfer window, the club also acquired shooting guardIgor Rakočević and combo guardSaša Obradović fromKK Crvena zvezda, both of whom had just finishedcompeting forFR Yugoslavia at the2000 Olympics, thus indicating the highest level of expectations for the upcoming 2000–01 season.
Playing on a squad coached byMiroslav Nikolić that in addition to high-profile newcomers Rakočević and Obradović also featured established holdovers Dejan Tomašević,Milenko Topić,Vladimir Kuzmanović, Dejan Radonjić and Haris Brkić, new piece Milojević—mostly deployed as Topić's backup at the power forward spot—contributed to Budućnost's domination over theYUBA League competition with a 21–1 regular season record.
The season also saw Milojević make hisEuroleague debut in the ULEB version of the competition (without the FIBA-loyal clubs) due to a split betweenFIBA Europe andULEB that season. Drawn in a round robin group withFC Barcelona,P.A.O.K. andScaligera Verona along with minnowsLondon Towers andFrankfurt Skyliners, Budućnost started the competition with a 6–2 record through their first 8 games, losing only to the FC Barcelona team (featuringPau Gasol,Šarūnas Jasikevičius andJuan Carlos Navarro) twice.[9]
By late December 2000, head coach Nikolić was released and in early 2001 replaced by the high-profile decorated coachBogdan Tanjević who thus returned to Yugoslav club basketball after more than twenty years since leaving the head coaching post atBosna in 1980. The club also added some size under the basket by acquiring centerJerome James with NBA experience from theSacramento Kings.
By the end of the Euroelague group stage, Budućnost managed a 7–3 record that was good for the third spot in the group and a Round-of-16 matchup versus powerhouseReal Madrid.[10] They had a chance to possibly avoid Real and have a home-court advantage in the round-of-16 series had they beaten PAOK away inThessaloniki; however, that group game ended with an 89-72 PAOK win.[11] Led bySaša Đorđević,Alberto Herreros,Erik Meek,Éric Struelens andMarko Milič, Real easily swept Budućnost 2-games-to-0 in their best-of-three series. With Topić out injured for both games, Milojević had 3 points and 8 rebounds in 17 minutes of action in the first game, a 91–63 blowout in Madrid,[12] while adding 4 points in 14 minutes in the second game in Podgorica.[13] Over 11 Euroleague games he appeared in throughout the season, Milojević averaged 4.6 points per game and 3.2 rebonds per game in 13.5 minutes per game.[14]
Budućnost won theYugoslav Cup at the final tournament inVršac, with Milojević contributing 9 points in the final versus Partizan.
After averaging 20.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in the 2003–04 season, his third MVP season, Milojević signed with the three-time defending champion Partizan. Despite having significantly better financial offers fromDynamo Moscow and Crvena zvezda, the sought-after power forward ending up signing for Partizan out of desire to play for coachDuško Vujošević. Although Partizan underachieved in the competition, Milojević was his usual dominant self, averaging 20.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, and just over 3 steals and assists per game. He was also the key player for Partizan's other title rout in the domestic league, as they lost only one game during the playoffs. In the2005–06 season, Milojević had another double-double EuroLeague season, scoring 16.4 points and grabbing 10 rebounds per game, also winning a couple of Player of the Week honors.
From Partizan, Milojević moved to the Spanish sidePamesa Valencia, where he played two seasons, finishing his international career with the Turkish clubGalatasaray Café Crown in the 2008–09 season. He moved back to Partizan in July 2009.[15] He announced his retirement on 1 September 2009 due to a recurring knee injury.[16]
Milojević was a member of theYugoslavia junior national team (representingFR Yugoslavia), together withIgor Rakočević andMarko Jarić, that won the gold medal at the1998 European Championship for Men '22 and Under' inTrapani, Italy. Over six tournament games, he averaged 3.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.[17]
First time Milojević received a training camp invite for the Yugoslavia national team was by head coachŽeljko Obradović ahead ofEuroBasket 1999. The 22-year-old FMP power forward ended up getting cut by Obradović, thus not making the final12-man squad taken to the championship.
The following summer, right as he was transferring to KK Budućnost, Milojević was called up again by Obradović for the2000 Olympics training camp. Once again, the player would eventually be cut by Obradović.
With a good season at Budućnost under his belt, Milojević made theYugoslavia senior national team, selected and coached bySvetislav Pešić, that triumphed dominantly at theEuroBasket 2001 inTurkey. Over the three games where he saw action—group-stage contests versus Germany and Estonia as well as quarterfinal versus Latvia—he averaged 4.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.[18]
Pešić called Milojević up again in summer 2002 for the training camp ahead of the2002 FIBA World Championship; however, an injury eliminated him this time.
Later, he was a member of theSerbia and Montenegro national team that finished 9th atEuroBasket 2005 in his home country. Over three tournament games, he averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.[19]
In March 2007, six months ahead ofEuroBasket 2007, soon-to-be-30-year-old Milojević ruled himself out of national team consideration, citing chronic knee inflammation.[20]
In October 2012, three years after retiring from playing professional basketball, Milojević became the head coach of Serbian teamMega Vizura.[21] In his first season with the team he had great success, leading his team to theBasketball League of Serbia playoff semifinals, thus clinching a spot in the regionalAdriatic League for thenext season.
In the team's ABA League debut season, he led the team to 8th place with a 12–14 record.
On 1 June 2020, he ended his tenure with Mega Basket.[22] Over 345 games during eight seasons, he had a 173–172 record.[23] During his time with Mega witnessedeleven of his Mega players selected in theNBA draft (Nikola Jokić,Vasilije Micić,Nemanja Dangubić,Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot,Ivica Zubac,Rade Zagorac,Vlatko Čančar,Ognjen Jaramaz,Alpha Kaba,Goga Bitadze andMarko Simonović).
Milojević got his first taste of theNBA throughSummer League coaching stint in the2018 season with theHouston Rockets.[24][25]
On 28 January 2021, Montenegrin clubBudućnost hired Milojević as their new head coach, signing him to a two-and-a-half-year contract.[26][27][28] The appointment came one day after the previous head coachPetar Mijović's resignation midway through the 2020–21 season.
On 3 June 2021, Milojević won theMontenegrin Cup tournament following a 102–93 win overMornar.[29]
Later that month, he won theMontenegrin League Championship after his team had a 3–0 win over Mornar in the 2021 Finals.[30] He left Budućnost in June 2021 to join theGolden State Warriors,[31][32] thus exercising the NBA opt-out clause in his contract with the Montenegrin club.[33]
On 13 August 2021, theGolden State Warriors announced the hiring of Milojević as an assistant coach, reportedly signing him to a "multiyear deal".[31][34]
Joining the head coachSteve Kerr's staff, alongside two more incoming assistant coachesJama Mahlalela andKenny Atkinson, Milojević was tasked with working withsquad members playing closer to the basket that the team deploys instretch four,power forward,forward-center andcenter positions. For Milojević, that meant primarily focusing on Golden State's recently drafted young centerJames Wiseman as well as their established squad playersDraymond Green andKevon Looney.[32][35] Due to Wiseman's multiple injuries throughout the2021–22 season, Milojević ended up spending more time working with Looney and was credited for helping the seventh-year player improve his rebounding in the regular season and2022 playoffs.[36][37][38] The Warriors went on to defeat theBoston Celtics in the2022 NBA Finals in six games, giving Milojević his first and only NBA championship, making him the second Serbian assistant coach (afterIgor Kokoškov) to win an NBA ring.[39][40]
On 5 December 2019, Milojević was named an assistant coach for theSerbia national team under Igor Kokoškov.[41] In September 2021, he left the national team as the assistant coach.
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance index rating |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | Budućnost | 11 | 2 | 13.5 | .622 | .000 | .333 | 3.2 | .2 | .6 | .0 | 4.6 | 3.0 |
| 2001–02 | 8 | 6 | 23.4 | .545 | .412 | .375 | 6.4 | .4 | 1.6 | .3 | 9.5 | 9.5 | |
| 2002–03 | 14 | 13 | 31.7 | .592 | .000 | .695 | 6.5 | 2.4 | 1.8 | .2 | 11.6 | 15.1 | |
| 2004–05 | Partizan | 6 | 6 | 35.5 | .634 | .000 | .700 | 11.5 | 3.3 | 3.5 | .3 | 20.8 | 30.5 |
| 2005–06 | 12 | 12 | 34.6 | .419 | .294 | .730 | 10.1 | 2.3 | 1.9 | .1 | 16.4 | 23.6 | |
| Career | 51 | 39 | 27.6 | .539 | .214 | .662 | 7.2 | 1.7 | 1.7 | .2 | 12.0 | 15.4 | |
On 16 January 2024, Milojević was hospitalized after suffering aheart attack at aSalt Lake City restaurant while dining with fellow Warriors coaches and players. The hospitalization resulted in the postponement of the Warriors games against theUtah Jazz andDallas Mavericks, which had been scheduled for the following days.[42] He died the following day, on 17 January, at the age of 46[43] and was buried in his native Belgrade on 12 February in a ceremony in which many of the Warriors' staff attended.[44]
On 15 February 2024, Milojević was posthumously awarded theOrder of Karađorđe's Star (1st class).[45]
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