This Monday, the Warriors held their first training since last Wednesday, and the sudden death of their assistant, Dejan Milojevic, who left at only 46 years old after a cardiac arrest. In the meantime, tributes arrived from everywhere and two matches were postponed.
“It’s difficult to describe the week we’ve just had,” comments Steve Kerr for ESPN. “We are heartbroken, we are devastated. This is the saddest moment I've had since I've been in the NBA. These last five days have been marked by shock, emotion, and the enormous outpouring of love from around the world. »
Nothing is like before
This Monday, the Warriors began by watching the 15 minutes of tribute paid to Belgrade, his hometown, as part of the match between Mega Basket and Partizan, the team he coached and the one where he played .
Before meeting for an hour to share their emotion. Because a large part of the franchise, between players, coaches and staff members, were present when Dejan Milojevic collapsed in a restaurant in Salt Lake City. The emotion was therefore immense and Steve Kerr explained that help had been offered, especially to those who attended this “traumatic scene”.
“It was different”concedes Kevon Looney, who was very close to his “brother” Milojevic. “You have to come to work and establish a new routine. The atmosphere at training is totally different without him. He was a complete part of our team, of my daily routine. It's clearly not the same thing. »
Pay homage to him as best as possible
The rest for the Warriors is a match against Atlanta on Wednesday evening, and it is therefore the start of a new season, now placed under the sign of the memory of Dejan Milojevic.
“There will be enormous emotion on Wednesday,” confides Steve Kerr who wore a jersey with the inscription “Brate”, “brother” in Serbian. “There is no manual for these situations. We will honor Deki in the best possible way. We'll be there to play a basketball game. We're going to find a way to grieve and play at the same time. »
Is this really possible? “I can’t wait to get back on the court, to try not to lose my love for this sport,” answers Kevon Looney. “I'm going to think back on all the memories, all the advice he gave me and I'm going to try to pay tribute to him like that. It's the only way I know how. »
Without doubt the best way will be to win this match, even if it will be insignificant compared to the loss of their loved one. “I can imagine Deki smiling and saying, 'Go win this game!' “, concludes Steve Kerr. “We will do our best to win and enjoy life despite everything. He was like that and we will continue. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Stephen Curry | 37 | 33.2 | 44.6 | 39.7 | 92.4 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 26.7 |
| Klay Thompson | 39 | 30.4 | 42.4 | 38.6 | 90.2 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 17.3 |
| Jonathan Kuminga | 39 | 23.1 | 51.3 | 30.7 | 71.2 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 13.6 |
| Andrew Wiggins | 36 | 26.3 | 42.2 | 29.6 | 68.5 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 4.2 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 11.9 |
| Dario Saric | 40 | 20.9 | 48.0 | 39.6 | 85.0 | 1.4 | 4.3 | 5.7 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 10.5 |
| Draymond Green | 16 | 25.0 | 49.1 | 44.2 | 84.4 | 1.4 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 9.5 |
| Brandin Podziemski | 34 | 24.4 | 45.7 | 39.1 | 61.1 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 9.2 |
| Chris Paul | 32 | 27.6 | 42.4 | 36.1 | 83.3 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 7.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 8.9 |
| Moses Moody | 34 | 18.0 | 48.2 | 35.8 | 78.9 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 8.7 |
| Tracey Jackson Davis | 30 | 14.4 | 68.8 | 0.0 | 61.8 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 7.0 |
| Kevin Looney | 40 | 20.5 | 61.8 | 0.0 | 70.4 | 2.6 | 4.5 | 7.1 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 5.7 |
| Gary Payton II | 16 | 16.3 | 45.6 | 28.1 | 66.7 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 5.4 |
| Gui Santos | 5 | 6.4 | 40.0 | 16.7 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 3.0 |
| Lester Quinones | 8 | 6.8 | 38.1 | 41.7 | 50.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 2.8 |
| Cory Joseph | 21 | 10.7 | 27.1 | 19.4 | 57.1 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.7 |
| Jerome Robinson | 6 | 3.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| Usman Garuba | 2 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
