Steve Kerr attends funeral of Warriors assistant Dejan Milojević in Serbia - ESPN

BELGRADE, Serbia — Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević, a mentor to two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, was buried Monday in his native Serbia after suffering a heart attack last month.

Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral on a rainy day at a Belgrade cemetery, including Warriors coach Steve Kerr, general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., assistant coaches Chris DeMarco and Ron Adams, basketball operations consultant Zaza Pachulia and trainer Rick Celebrini.

A flower-draped casket was carried by Milojević's former Serbian teammates.

Milojević died Jan. 17 in Salt Lake City, where he was hospitalized after a medical emergency during a private team dinner. Milojević, part of the staff that helped the Warriors win the 2022 NBA championship, was 46.

Milojević's death triggered a massive outpouring of sympathy from the basketball community and fans in his homeland, where he was a star player with Partizan Belgrade and other clubs in Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey and Spain before turning to coaching.

Predrag Danilović, the president of the Serbian Basketball Federation, said there was no person who did not respect and love Milojević.

«A great basketball player, great coach left us, and above all a great man, a man without a single stain. I had that honor and pleasure to be friends with him even though we did not play together,» Danilovic said at a formal commemoration for Milojević on Saturday.

Marko Kešelj, of Serbia's Ministry of Sports and a former basketball player, said the sport was Milojević's life.

«With his positive energy. he brought out the best in us,» Kešelj said. «He motivated us to be better in every way, as people and as players. Deki was a friend, mentor, he was a leader.»

Milojević was in his third