Due to the passing of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, the Golden State Warriors haven’t played an NBA game since Martin Luther King Day. The team was enjoying a dinner together at an Italian restaurant in Salt Lake City when the 46-year-old of Serbian descent suffered a heart attack and was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead the following day.
NBA: Warriors Back At Practice After Passing Of Assistant Coach
Steve Kerr explained the “heartbreaking” and “devastating” past week since assistant coach Dejan Milojević’s death pic.twitter.com/kVXUnA60Hj
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 22, 2024
The team has taken time to mourn and grieve. The incident happened on January 16th, the day before they were scheduled to take on the Utah Jazz, and the game was subsequently postponed. The Warriors were supposed to begin a five game home stand two nights later against the Mavericks, but that game too was moved back to a later date.
When it came to the basketball side of things, the schedule worked out well for the Warriors to take a much-needed break to focus on life’s bigger issues. They had four days off scheduled between the game against the Mavericks and their next against the Hawks, which will have provided them with a full 8 days between NBA games, and hopefully enough time to clear their minds and come back with somewhat mended hearts.
On Monday, they returned to practice for the first time since the incident in preparation for making their way back to the court this week.
Golden State Has A Hole To Climb Out Of
The Warriors are back at practice today for the first time since the passing of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic.
Golden State has not played a game since MLK Day. Their next scheduled game is January 24 at home vs. the Hawks.
(via @CAlvarezABC7)pic.twitter.com/bMlrVAiIps
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 22, 2024
They’ll hit the ground running when it comes to playing against some of their toughest opponents. The Warriors are 2-5 against the Hawks since 2019, whom they’ll play against on Wednesday, and will play the second night of a back-to-back against a Kings team that took them to seven games during last year’s postseason.
On Saturday, they’ll take on the struggling Lakers in a game that could be big for positioning at the lower end of the Western Conference standings, and then will face off against Joel Embiid and the 76ers after a couple of days off.
The Warriors will need to be at their best in order to stay afloat. They are currently 18-22 and in 12th place in the West, two games behind the Jazz in 10th place and 4.5 games behind the Kings in 8th. They’ve struggled both with injuries and underwhelming performances from the supporting cast around Steph Curry, and the team’s star has had his own issues as of late.
Draymond Green was made available for the first time in 16 games during the team’s last contest against the Grizzlies, but his presence didn’t seem to help much. Golden State lost to Memphis by a score of 116-107.
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