On one side of the court, near their team benches, both the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks gathered together as the Serbian national anthem played in honor of Dejan Milojevic.
In a touching gesture, each Warrior player placed an additional jersey with Milojevic’s name on the back onto one of the coaching chairs. These jerseys were worn during warmups. The coaching chairs themselves were adorned with a special black T-shirt that had the word “BRATE” draped over the seat. “BRATE” is the Serbian word for brother, a term their coach affectionately used for all of them.
“It’s very emotional just to walk into the building for the first time on a game night without Deki. Obviously we’re all wearing our shirts, and there’s images of him with his ever-present smile,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s very emotional because it’s all still very raw and surreal in a lot of ways. We’ve been practicing the last few days and there’s not a whole lot to say to prepare for something like this. You just dive in headfirst, stick together, and go try to win a basketball game, and honor our brother.”
Forever our brother, Deki pic.twitter.com/Z7pU0hGeFz
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 25, 2024
“(Deki) is a part of our soul.” pic.twitter.com/u3Og4TwoV5
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 25, 2024
Thank you for everything, Deki. pic.twitter.com/17reJCW6zJ
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 25, 2024
Forever a part of #DubNation pic.twitter.com/o6RgvPVVks
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 25, 2024
Bigger than basketball. pic.twitter.com/Xx4VBPo8ui
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 25, 2024
Dejan Milojević
Our brother. pic.twitter.com/552rjEIBy4— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 25, 2024
Warriors players honored Dejan Milojević with jerseys bearing his surname during pregame.
The jerseys were then placed on Deki’s usual seat on the bench. pic.twitter.com/jztsCexVjF
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 25, 2024
The game against the Hawks was the first game, after the passing of their assistant coach Dejan Milojevic.
Milojevic was hospitalized on January 16, at a Salt Lake City restaurant after a sudden heart attack. He had traveled with the Warriors for their game against the Utah Jazz. There were players and coaches eating dinner together when the health incident occurred. He tragically passed away the following day.
