At Chase Center in San Francisco, California, the U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA) Golden State players approached an empty chair sitting on one side of the bench ahead of a game against Atlanta. This chair was used by coach Dejan Milojevic, who recently passed away from a heart attack. The players took off their uniforms bearing the names of the deceased and put them on empty chairs, vowing to win.
It was the first official game of Golden State since the death of coach Milojevic on the 18th. Milojevic had a heart attack while eating with coaching staff and some of the team ahead of the away game against the Utah Jazz. He was immediately taken to the hospital, but he died at the young age of 46.
The deceased, who is also famous as a teacher of Nikola Jokic (Denber), a basketball junior from his home country of Serbia, joined Golden State from June 2021 and helped coach Steve Kerr win the NBA Finals in 2022. The club postponed both the Utah match on the 18th and Dallas match on the 20th to commemorate coach Milojevic who accompanied him for three years.
Returning to the court, Golden State held an event to pay tribute to the deceased before the game started. Players and staff entered the stadium wearing clothes with the initials DM and BRATE meaning brothers in Serbian.
"We lost the most beautiful soul in the world last week. He was a wonderful friend, grandson, son, husband, and father. He is a part of our soul," said Kerr, who held the microphone after the video clip was played. An official from the team visited the stands where the bereaved family was sitting and delivered bouquets of flowers. To remember the deceased, Golden State players wear uniforms with the words "DM" engraved on them for the rest of this season.
Golden State not only scored key players such as Stephen Curry (25 points, eight assists) and Klay Thompson (24 points), but also bench players such as Jonathan Kuminga (25 points, nine rebounds), Draymond Green (12 points), and Brandin Pozemski (10 points) scored in double digits to achieve a 134-112 victory. Curry, the team's flagship player, honored Milojevic by pointing two fingers to the sky after scoring a goal.
Golden State showed a scary hindsight especially in the second half. After finishing the first half 69-68, Golden State ran 101-92 in the third quarter with Curry and Thompson at the forefront. In the fourth quarter, Kuminga displayed remarkable performance. He scored 11 points in the fourth quarter alone, shaking off Atlanta's pursuit.
In contrast, all of Atlanta's starters, including DeJonte Murray (23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists), scored double-digit points but failed to secure victory. Trae Young, who was absent due to concussion symptoms, was largely absent. After escaping its two-game losing streak, Golden State ranked 12th in the Western Conference with 19 wins and 22 losses, while Atlanta, which lost three games in a row, ranked 10th in the Eastern Conference with 18 wins and 26 losses.