The NBA and basketball world suffered a major loss on Wednesday with the tragic passing of Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic. Milojevic played a key role among several international NBA players, many of whom took to social media to offer their condolences and to express their grief. Milojevic suffered a heart attack on Tuesday when out with Warriors players and staff and was pronounced dead Wednesday afternoon. One of the latest NBA stars to express his thoughts was Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic who took to social media hours before the Mavs game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Although Dejan Milojevic never actually coached Mavs star Luka Doncic, Doncic was one of the players whom Milojevic had impacted. He began his NBA coaching career with the Warriors in 2021 and was key staff member of the 2022 championship team.

Prior to that, Milojevic had been coaching overseas. He got his coaching start in 2012 in the Basketball League of Serbia. He was a coach in Serbia for eight years and played a key role in the development of current NBA players Nikola Jokic and Ivica Zubac. In 2018, Milojevic was a member of the Houston Rockets coaching staff during NBA Summer League.

As a player, Milojevic had an overseas professional career that spanned 15 years and included stints in Serbia, Spain and Turkey. He became a coach three years after he retired from playing professional basketball. He also played for the then Yugolslavian national team and continued to play for them when they became known as Serbia.