Lakers hold moment of silence for Warriors coach Dejan Milojević after tragic death

The NBA world continued to mourn the untimely passing of Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević, including the Lakers, who held a moment of silence in his honor Wednesday night. 

Milojević died Wednesday after he suffered a heart attack the day prior.

He was 46.

Before the Lakers took on the Mavericks on Wednesday in Los Angeles, the team took time to honor the late coach.

“The global basketball community joins the NBA family in mourning the sudden passing of Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević at the age of 46,” Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter said Wednesday night.

“He played professionally for 14 seasons throughout  Europe and was also part of the Serbian and Montenegro national teams before turning his coaching to America. Starting with a stint as an assistant for the Serbian national team, he worked with the Hawks, the Spurs, the Rockets organizations and since 2021, he’s been an integral part of the Warriors coaching staff.” 

Tanter then asked Crypto.com Arena to pause for a moment of silence to honor the late coach. 

The building fell silent as the players on the court bowed their heads in respect with a picture of Milojević shown on the jumbotron. 

The Warriors were originally scheduled to play the Jazz on Wednesday night, but the NBA postponed the game to a future date. 

Fellow Serb and Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković praised Milojević before his team’s game on Wednesday. 

“A lot of NBA players went through his hands and his influence,” Rajaković said. And he helped a lot of guys. … As a head coach (overseas) he helped a lot of people to make the next step in their career. The last time we were together he was talking about Serbian national team and his dream of one day being a head coach of the Serbian national team. 

“And we were talking about plans and all of that, and unfortunately, he’s not with us anymore to share dreams and  goals.”

Milojević was in the middle of his third season as a coach with the Warriors, winning an NBA Finals in 2022.