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Darko Rajaković

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Darko Rajaković
Toronto Raptors
PositionHead coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1979-02-22) 22 February 1979 (age 45)
Čačak, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
Coaching career1996–present
Career history
As coach:
1996–1999Borac Čačak (youth)
1999–2007Crvena zvezda (youth)
2009–2012Espacio Torrelodones
2012–2014Tulsa 66ers
2014–2019Oklahoma City Thunder (assistant)
2019–2020Phoenix Suns (assistant)
2020–2023Memphis Grizzlies (assistant)
2023–presentToronto Raptors
Career highlights and awards
As assistant coach:

Darko Rajaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Дарко Рајаковић; born 22 February 1979) is a Serbian professional basketball coach who is the head coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Rajaković was the head coach of the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA G League for two seasons and the first head coach in NBA G League history born outside of North America.[1] Rajaković went on to become an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies prior to becoming the head coach of the Toronto Raptors.[2]

Education

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Rajaković earned his degree in basketball coaching from the Belgrade Basketball Academy in 2004[3] and earned his degree in sports management from Alfa BK University in 2006.

Coaching career

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Early career

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Rajaković began his coaching career at 16 years old with Borac Čačak in Čačak, Serbia.[4] Following his three-year stint in Čačak, Rajaković was named the head coach for the Crvena zvezda youth system in Belgrade.[5] During his eight years in Belgrade, Rajaković led Crvena zvezda to two Serbian Youth championships.[6] To increase his basketball coaching acumen and knowledge, Rajaković spent time with Lute Olson at the University of Arizona (2003) and Mike Krzyzewski at Duke University (2007) and attended team practices and meetings at both universities.[7][8]

From 2004 to 2011, Rajaković served as a scouting consultant and NBA Summer League assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs.[7]

Espacio Torrelodones (2009–2012)

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In 2009, Rajaković become the head coach of Espacio Torrelodones of the Spanish EBA League (4th-tier). Rajaković excelled in both recruiting and developing players. In his first season, Rajaković led the Torrelodones to the Primera Division – Community of Madrid Group (5th-tier) title, promoting the team to the Liga EBA.[6] In the 2010–11 Liga EBA season, the Torrelodones finished 7th in Group B with a 16–14 record. In the next season and his last as their coach, the Torrelodones finished 8th in Group B with the same record as for season before.

Tulsa 66ers (2012–2014)

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In 2012, Rajaković became the head coach of the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League. Rajaković led Tulsa to a combined 51–49 record over two seasons, including a 27–23 record and NBA D-League Semifinals appearance in 2012–13. During his time with the 66ers, Tulsa was assigned seven players from Oklahoma City a total of 50 times (the most in the league during that stretch), including Oklahoma City players such as Reggie Jackson, Perry Jones, Jeremy Lamb and André Roberson. Rajaković witnessed five of his Tulsa players receive call-ups to the NBA, including four to the Oklahoma City Thunder (Grant Jerrett, Daniel Orton, Mustafa Shakur and Reggie Williams). He coached 11 Tulsa players over the two years who were on an NBA roster in the 2013–14 season.[6]

NBA assistant (2014–2023)

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On 5 July 2014, Rajaković was named assistant coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder.[1] During his time with the Thunder, Rajaković helped develop many players, including Steven Adams, Andre Roberson, Terrance Ferguson, Victor Oladipo, Dennis Schröder and Alex Abrines.[9][10][11] Rajaković served as the Thunder's head coach at NBA Summer League in 2014 and 2015. He was on the Western Conference All-Star Team coaching staff in 2014.[7] Rajaković helped lead the Thunder to the playoffs four consecutive seasons (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019), making it to the 2016 NBA Western Conference Finals.

On 26 June 2019, Rajaković was hired as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns.[12]

On 13 September 2020, Rajaković was hired as an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies.[13] On 11 January 2022, Rajaković as the interim head coach led the Grizzlies to a 116–108 win over the Golden State Warriors.[14] It was his head coaching debut in NBA.[15] After his fellow Serbian countryman Igor Kokoškov, he is the second European who led an NBA team in a regular season game.[16][17] Rajaković finished his stint as the interim head coach with a 4–1 record.

In May 2022, Rajaković was featured in ESPN's annual report on potential coaching candidates to watch. The article stated:[18]

People all over the coaching world, as well as players who have benefited from his grasp of the game, rave about Darko Rajakovic. That makes a lot of sense when you consider he has been poached twice—Phoenix and Memphis—over the past couple of years by incoming head coaches assembling a staff from scratch. A European head coach has yet to break through with a sustained career in the NBA, but Rajakovic (Serbia) has the intellect and passion for the craft that makes him the current morning-line favorite to become the first. The man has authored academic-journal style articles about the evolution of the pick-and-roll, but he's anything but academic in his warmth with players and fellow coaches.

Toronto Raptors (2023–present)

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On 13 June 2023, Rajaković was hired by the Toronto Raptors as the 10th head coach in franchise history.[19]

Rajaković was fined $25,000 after he used his post-game press conference to speak out against the NBA's officiating in a 132–131 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on 10 January 2024, which he felt was biased towards the Lakers and giving the Raptors unfair disadvantages.[20]

National team coaching career

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On July 18, 2019, Rajaković was hired as an assistant coach for the Serbia men's national basketball team under Aleksandar Đorđević.[21] He made his debut at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup where Serbia came in fifth place.

Personal life

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On 9 May 2024, Rajaković and his wife Gaga donated US$46,700 to Sick Kids hospital in Toronto, St. Jude Research Hospital in Memphis and to the University Children Hospital in Belgrade. The donation was a result of a commitment of Darko and his family to donate US$20 for every assist the Raptors made.[22]

Head coaching record

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NBA Development League

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Tulsa 2012–13 50 27 23 .540 3rd in Central 5 2 3 .400 Lost Semifinals
Tulsa 2013–14 50 24 26 .480 5th in Central – Missed playoffs
Career 100 51 49 .510   5 2 3 .400  

NBA

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Toronto 2023–24 82 25 57 .305 5th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Career 82 25 57 .305   — — — —  

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Rajakovic Joins Thunder Coaching Staff". nba.com. 5 July 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  2. ^ Koreen, Eric (11 June 2023). "Raptors hire Darko Rajakovic as next coach, per source: Why did Toronto choose him?". The Athletic. Contributed by The Athletic Staff. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  3. ^ Cole, Damichael (11 January 2022). "Who is Darko Rajakovic? Meet Memphis Grizzles' reported acting coach vs. Warriors". commercialappeal.com. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Vice Meets Darko Rajakovic". video.vice.com. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Darko Rajaković vodi Memfis kao glavni trener!". sportklub.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Thunder's Developmental League coach Darko Rajakovic joins Thunder coaching staff". welcometoloudcity.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "Darko Rajakovic at kauffmansports.com". kauffmansports.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Oklahoma City Thunder hire Darko Rajakovic as head coach of D-League Tulsa 66ers". thunderousintentions.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  9. ^ Dawson, Brett (30 November 2016). "Thunder journal: Assistant coach gives Adams free-throw shooting punch". oklahoman.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  10. ^ Dawson, Brett (4 July 2018). "Thunder's Terrance Ferguson heads for Summer League with sights set on growing game". oklahoman.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  11. ^ Horne, Erik (23 December 2018). "How Andre Roberson-led film sessions are molding the Thunder's young defenders". oklahoman.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Phoenix Suns announce complete coaching staff". nba.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Memphis Grizzlies add Darko Rajakovic as assistant coach". nba.com. 13 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  14. ^ Bailey, Clay (12 January 2022). "Morant scores 29, sparks Grizzlies to 10th straight win". nba.com. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Darko Rajaković vodi Memfis kao glavni trener!". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Darko Rajaković vodi Memfis kao glavni trener!". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Srpski trener na čelu Memfisa, Darko Rajaković vodi Grizlije protiv Golden Stejta". rts.rs. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  18. ^ Arnovitz, Kevin (4 May 2022). "NBA coaching prospects: Here are the top names league insiders are extolling behind the scenes". ESPN.com. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  19. ^ Beloso, M. (13 June 2023). "Raptors name Darko Rajaković as head coach". NBA.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  20. ^ Ngabo, Gilbert (11 January 2024). "Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic hit with fine from NBA after epic rant about referees". thestar.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Rajaković u stručnom štabu Srbije". novosti.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  22. ^ "DARKO AND GAGA RAJAKOVIĆ MAKE DONATIONS TO CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS". NBA.com. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
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