The Warriors ended their eight-day layoff -- in the wake of assistant coach Dejan Milojević's death -- with a "resounding" 134-112 victory over the Hawks last night in front of 18,064 -- the team's 500th consecutive home sellout. Beforehand, "a touching two-minute video tribute" to Milojević was played (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/24).
Warriors coach Steve Kerr took the microphone to "tell the crowd about what Milojević meant to them" prior to the game. Milojević's wife, Natasa, and two children, Nikola and Masa, were in the stands for the tribute, and Milojević's old seat on the coaches bench was "left empty with a t-shirt and white rose in his honor" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 1/24).
A number of Warriors players "broke down in tears" during the team’s pregame ceremony honoring Milojević. For several seconds after Kerr’s address, fans "yelled and cheered, just as Deki would have wanted." Then the Serbian national anthem "blared through the loudspeakers as that country’s flag waved on the jumbotron." Milojević's seat was adorned with "a black T-shirt with 'BRATE' -- the Serbian word for 'brother'" written on it. Both the Warriors and Hawks warmed up in that shirt last night, and it has "been sent to teams throughout the league" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/24).
