Darko Rajakovic was suspended two months.

Darko Rajakovic, head coach of the Toronto Raptors, was suspended for attempting to

But tiny things like this, accumulated over almost 30 years on two continents at the youth, collegiate, and professional levels, are what gave Rajakovic the credibility and connections he needed to succeed in this most recent venture. Rajakovic, who is the second European coach in the NBA, had the ambition of coaching in the NBA and modeled his style after legendary players Zeljko Obradovic and Gregg Popovich.

Speaking of the former head coach of the Yugoslav national team and the San Antonio Spurs, Rajakovic remarked, “Those were my decisions at the time, and I cannot really express why.”

However, they were the coaches who prioritized the needs of the individuals. I’m not sure if I always saw that in them or if it was just something I was born with. I need to take a seat and consider that one.

Raymond Popovich’s father was of Serbian descent. Another Serbian, Obradovic, is a coach in the Serbian Basketball League and is often considered the best coach in European history.

On Wednesday, at Scotiabank Arena (7:30 ET, League Pass), the 11-15 Raptors take on the reigning champion Denver Nuggets in front of Rajakovic’s admirer and fellow countryman, Nikola Jokic.

“Hopefully, he stays here for a very long time,” the two-time Kia MVP remarked during the NBA Finals in June of last year. “There’s a lot of appreciation for him and his hard work in going from G League coach to NBA head coach in [12] years.” He’s been through and seen a lot, and in my opinion, he deserves it.

A voyage across continents

Rajakovic’s transition into coaching was accelerated by realism and critical self-evaluation. At seven years old, the 44-year-old began playing basketball. Rajakovic knew it was time to hang up the sneakers and pick up a whistle by the time he turned 16.

It just wasn’t on the cards for him to play professional basketball in the future.

Thus, in his hometown of Cacak, Serbia, Rajakovic began coaching eight-year-olds on a youth BC Borac Cacak team at the age of sixteen. After three years, he eventually transferred to Red Star Belgrade, another youth team. Rajakovic led the 16- and 18-year-old teams in that program while attending the University of Belgrade, where he studied in Greek, and the Belgrade Basketball Academy for hoops.

As if that weren’t enough, Sam Presti, the executive vice president and general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder and a former assistant general manager of the Spurs, had previously expressed interest in Rajakovic.

Rajakovic joined Presti’s Spurs team in order to gather information for scouting reports, learn about the history of the different players in the area, and monitor prospects from the Balkans.

During his eight years at Red Star Belgrade (1999–2007), Rajakovic led the team to two Serbian titles while he was writing those scouting reports for the Spurs.

Taylor Jenkins, the coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, spent the 2007–08 season as an intern in the basketball operations department of the San Antonio Spurs. He then spent the next six years as an assistant for the team’s NBA G League affiliate. Rajakovic and Jenkins became close while playing for the Spurs.

From 2004 to 2011, Rajakovic was an assistant and scouting consultant for San Antonio’s Summer League team.

Jenkins told NBA.com, “He and I are really great friends, brothers in the NBA.” “I enjoy having someone as selfless as him around me,” the speaker said. He truly clicked with me on the love of teaching, which is evident when you are around him. He has assisted me in improving as a coach, and I’m happy that he has merited the chance to run his own program.

However, Rajakovic would first be hired by Jenkins in 2020 to serve as the Grizzlies’ assistant.

Jenkins told NBA.com, “He has a unique story and that really rubbed off on me a lot.” “Just his artistic mind and his ties to European basketball.” He could bring in diverse influences that rub off on me. It’s hardly surprising that he is currently an NBA head coach, given his broad perspective and desire to improve all aspects of his game, from A to Z.

That occasionally called for Rajakovic’s creativity.

In order to take over Espacio Torrelodones of the Spanish EBA League, he relocated to Madrid in 2009. The Raptors coach picked up Spanish in just three months after moving to Spain, according to a Thunder executive who recently shared this anecdote. The Torrelodones moved up a tier and won the Primera tier Community of Madrid Group championship in that inaugural season.

In reference to his three-month semi-mastery of Spanish, Rajakovic told NBA.com, “It’s true.” “On my team, there was only one English-speaking player. The others were staring at me as if I were insane. My back was so close to the wall.

Rajakovic initially relied on the one player who spoke English to assist with running practices.

He declared, “I started classes right away.” “I was able to manage the practices without any issues in three months. But it took me a year to feel at ease before I could speak fluently.

An eagerly anticipated arrival

Rajakovic coached in Europe from 1996 to 2012 while simultaneously working with the Spurs as a side hustle, when Presti made the call to officially bring the Serbian to the States full-time.

Before Rajakovic joined the Tulsa 66ers in the NBA D-League, Presti begged him to leave Madrid. Apart from his coaching experiences overseas, Rajakovic also went to the University of Arizona to learn from Lute Olson and spent time at Duke with Mike Krzyzewski to hone his coaching abilities and expand his basketball expertise.

It follows that Rajakovic’s scholarly journal-style writings waxing lyrical about the development of the pick-and-roll are hardly surprising.

He knows the rules of the game. He’s approached things correctly,” Popovich remarked. He carried over a lot of the knowledge he gained abroad with him to this place. He has good people skills. He’s a no-nonsense, honest, and direct kind of man. You can rely on him at all times.

Rajakovic joined the Thunder staff as an assistant after serving as a coach for three seasons with the 66ers.

Under Rajakovic, OKC made it to the playoffs four times in a row (2016–19). In 2019, the Serbian moved to Phoenix to work with Monty Williams after leaving Oklahoma City. Previously, the two had collaborated on the Thunder staff.