Darko Rajakovic may not yet be a familiar name in Toronto, but he has a coaching pedigree that spans almost three decades from Serbia, to Spain, to North America.
Here is a look at the Raptors' new head coach:
Born: February 22, 1979.
Start in coaching: Rajakovic began his career as a teenager in 1996 and coached two different youth teams over 11 years in his native Serbia. He then served as head coach of Espacio Torrelodones in Spain from 2009-2012. He also spent some years as a Europe-based scout for the San Antonio Spurs.
G League: Rajakovic was hired as head coach of the NBA G League's (then known as D-League) Tulsa 66ers — the Oklahoma City Thunder's affiliate team — in 2012. He led Tulsa to a combined 51-49 record over two seasons, including a semifinals appearance in 2012-13. Tulsa was assigned seven players from Oklahoma City a total of 50 times (the most in the league during that stretch). Rajakovic had five of his players receive call-ups to the NBA, including four to the Thunder. He coached 11 Tulsa players who were on an NBA roster in the 2013-14 season.
NBA: He was made the Thunder's assistant coach under then-coach Scott Brooks. Following Brooks's firing, Oklahoma City retained Rajakovic under Billy Donovan in 2015. In his five years with the Thunder, they made the playoffs four times, including a Western Conference final appearance in 2016 with the likes of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo and more.
Rajakovic joined the Phoenix Suns as an assistant for the 2019-20 season, where the team made a splash winning all eight of its games in the bubble but just missed the post-season. He was then joined the Memphis Grizzlies as an assistant for three years, including a stint as interim head coach in 2022 when Taylor Jenkins was out for health and safety protocols.
He now becomes the second European NBA head coach after fellow Serbian Igor Kokoskov, who lasted one year with Phoenix in 2018-19.
Quotes: "Definitely deserves it!!!" tweeted Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane.
"I love it," Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic told reporters Sunday. "He's a great guy, and I really appreciate him and he's (been) here a long, long time. Ten years from the G League coach to the head coach in the NBA. I think it's a lot of respect for him and for his work and I think he deserve it. He's seen a lot, he's been through a lot, I think he deserve it and I think he's gonna do a great job there."
"Congrats and good luck to my good friend coach @DRajakovic! Good choice, it’s great to see a European coach having an opportunity to prove his value as an NBA HC ! A heartfelt thank you to the Raptors, receive this consideration from what has been my team was very meaningful!" tweeted former Raptors assistant Sergio Scariolo.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2023.
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
