Upon arrival at the Chase Center, two and a half hours before the game against the Hawks, the shadow of Dejan Milojevic was omnipresent. On all the screens in the corridors of the Chase Center and in the press room, his big smile and his kind eyes were there to welcome you to this Warriors tribute evening.
On the backs of most Chase Center and Warriors employees is the same t-shirt worn by players from both teams with the word “Brate,” which means “brother” in Serbian, on the front and “Deki,” the nickname Milojevic, on the back. On the floor, his initials in a heart and a rose on the seat where he sat behind the Golden State bench.
Despite the routine of a match night, sadness grips everyone.
“Just walking into the room for a match for the first time without 'Deki' was emotional,” explained Steve Kerr before the meeting. “Obviously we all wear our t-shirts in his honor and you see his picture. It's very moving because it's still fresh and unreal in many ways. We've been training for the last two days but there's not much to say to prepare you for tonight. So you dive in head first, you support each other, and you try to go win a game to honor our brother. »
Steve Kerr finds the words strong and right
Before the match, players from both teams lined up along the sideline. The Warriors with their jersey flocked with the name of their assistant coach. Hawks proudly wear “Brate” on their chest. It was Steve Kerr, flanked by Stephen Curry and Draymond Green on one side and Igor Kokoskov and Bogdan Bogdanovic, Dejan Milojevic's two compatriots, on the other, who led the pre-match ceremony to celebrate the life and memory of Dejan Milojevic.
After a video chronicling “Deki’s” career and time in Golden State, Kerr focused his emotional speech on the humanity of his friend and colleague. “His joy, his smile, and his laughter, it was him every day,” he said. “ It is part of our soul. » To honor Milojevic's jovial and always positive character, Kerr encouraged the entire Chase Center to stand and give him a standing ovation rather than a moment of silence.
Warriors tribute unites basketball family
You don't need to know Milojevic or have been around him to get the thrills. But the most moving moment came after the Serbian and American national anthems. One by one, the Golden State players came to place their jerseys in honor of “Deki” on his seat before collectively meditating for a long minute. A few meters away, seated between Mike Dunleavy Jr and Zaza Pachulia, Milojevic's wife and children were in tears.
Following up with a basketball match seemed so futile but “the show must go on”. The Warriors won the game for Dejan Milojevic. Usually an escape and a celebration, basketball takes a back seat, behind the mourning and the emotion still very strong after the match. “I went through all the emotions,” said a Dario Saric on the verge of tears after the match.
Outside the Atlanta locker room, Zaza Pachulia, former Golden State player, returned to the club as an ambassador, and Bogdan Bogdanovic spent a moment with Nikola, Milojevic's son, under his mother's still red eyes. It's as if there were no Warriors and Hawks, but one big family united on this trying evening.
“This match had an importance that went well beyond basketball,” described Quin Snyder after his team's defeat, preferring to focus on the symbol of the meeting. “ We all put on this t-shirt without the slightest hesitation, and me first, because the word on it, “brother”, conveys the feeling that we are all part of the big NBA family. It's a big brotherhood. Whether it's the players or the coaches, our jobs go beyond borders and cultures. We are united by a common experience and that is something you feel strongly in this kind of situation. The leaders of the league know this and have demonstrated it by their actions in recent days. And it's the same for us tonight with the pre-match ceremony. These are the moments when you feel most connected to the NBA family. »
Comments collected in San Francisco.
