“The world lost a beautiful soul last week”: Golden State Warriors pay tribute late assistant coach Dejan Milojevic

Golden State Warriors paid tribute to their late assistant coach Dejan Milojevic in their first match back. The Warriors had two of their games postponed after the tragic and sudden death of their Milojevic because of a heart attack on January 16.

On their first match back, coach Steve Kerr addressed the crowd and paid tribute to the former member of his coaching staff.

“The world lost a beautiful soul last week,” he said.. “Deki was a wonderful friend, a hell of a basketball coach, a great man and most importantly, a beautiful grandson, son, husband and father. The mark that he’s left on our organization the last three years … that was him every day. The smile, the joy, the laughter, it was ever present. What he meant to us was a huge part of who we are. He’s a part of our soul.”

After the game where the Warriors ended up beating the Atlanta Hawks with a score of 134-112, star player Stephen Curry talked to the media and explained how the week was a very emotional one for the players and the support staff after the demise of Milojevic.

“It’s been a very long week for everybody in our organization, understanding how we wanted to pay, honor, tribute and celebrate Deki and what he meant to our family,” he said.

“Having his family here, getting the celebration and reception from our fans, it’s tough looking over at his chair, but coach challenged us to kind of utilize all those emotions and get lost in the game. It was weird at first, but this is our sanctuary.

“The competition, we know Deki would love nothing more than to see us go out there and compete and have fun as best we can. It feels really good to get a win.”