Darko Rajakovic's net worth in 2023 is between $1 million and $5 million. The Serbian has a literal degree in basketball and will bring his coaching practices to the NBA as head coach of the Toronto Raptors. Let's look at Darko Rajakovic's net worth in 2023.

What is Darko Rajakovic's net worth in 2023?: $1 million – $5 million (estimate)

Rajakovic has gone from coaching Serbian Youth basketball to patrolling the sidelines with Canada's only NBA team. Darko Rajakovic's net worth in 2023 sits between $1 million and $5 million, according to Sportskeeda.

Rajakovic is a rare coach with a literal basketball coaching degree, earning it from the Belgrade Basketball Academy in 2004. He landed a sports management degree from Alfa BK University in 2006.

He began his coaching career at 16 with Borac Cacak in Serbia. A three-year stint in Cacak parlayed him into a head coaching opportunity with Belgrade's Crvena Zvezda youth system. He led the team to two Serbian Youth championships.

Rajakovic's goal was to become a professional basketball coach, and he did everything he could to get there. He increased his basketball knowledge by spending time with Lute Olson at the University of Arizona and Mike Krzyzewski at Duke University. He also became a scouting consultant and NBA Summer League assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs.

Darko Rajakovic's early professional coaching jobs

Rajakovic became the head coach of Espacio Torrelodones of the Spanish EBA League. His specialties were both recruiting and developing players.

Rajakovic led the team to the Primera Division – Community of Madrid Group (5th-tier) championship in his first season. He led the team to two straight 16-14 records in the EBA League before leaving for his first chance in North America.

The Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League brought in Rajakovic as their head coach in 2012. He led the team to a combined 51-49 record over his first two seasons, including a semifinal appearance in 2012-13. He coached players like Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb, Andre Roberson, Mustafa Shakur, and Reggie Williams.

Rajakovic was the assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder during their best run in franchise history. He helped lead the Thunder to the playoffs for four consecutive seasons starting in 2016 and made it to the 2016 Western Conference Finals.

The Phoenix Suns signed Rajakovic as an assistant coach in 2019, but he held the position for just one season. The Memphis Grizzlies brought him in for the 2020 season, hoping his developmental skills would help their young roster. Rajakovic filled in for the interim role in January 2022 and went 4-1, albeit in a small sample size.

Darko Rajakovic's first NBA head-coaching job

In May 2022, ESPN included Rajakovic's name in their annual coaching prospects report. The article said, “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.”

The Toronto Raptors confirmed ESPN's report on June 13, 2023, when they hired Darko to be their 10th head coach in team history.

Darko has big shoes to fill after the departure of Nick Nurse, but the Serbian has been defying the odds all his life. He has taken an untraditional path to become a head coach in the NBA and isn't likely to go away anytime soon. Nevertheless, was Darko Rajakovic's net worth in 2023 a surprise?