The Toronto Raptors have officially named Darko Rajaković as its head coach following an announcement on Tuesday.
Welcome to the North, Head Coach Darko Rajaković#WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/yIOJmObK17
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) June 13, 2023
The 44-year-old is now the 10th head coach in franchise history. Back in April, former head coach Nick Nurse was fired after being with the organization for ten years, five as head coach. Nurse secured the Raptors their only NBA championship in 2019.
Rajaković is a Serbia native who started his career as an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) from 2014 to 2019, before serving as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns for one season (2019 to 2020). Recently, he spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies.
During his five years on OKC’s staff, the team averaged 49 wins with four playoff appearances, including a trip to the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
“This is an amazing, amazing privilege to represent the Toronto Raptors championship organization. It’s an amazing privilege to be part of such an amazing roster,” Rajaković said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
During the conference, Raptors Vice-Chairman and President Masai Ujiri explained why he believes Rajaković is the right fit for the team in comparison to a pool of potential other candidates who were vying for the job.
“Yes, we did have many incredible candidates and we wanted to go through a process here because of the state in which our team is and I think Darko just hit all of it. And depending on where our team could be, we’re excited,” he said.
“We’re excited to have his knowledge, his experience. I think…being so studious of the game, his journey, diversity everything, you know, like, to me, he’s incredible family, Gaga (Rajaković’s wife)…To me, it all comes together in some kind of way and the process was long and tough but we know we came up with the right candidate here,” he added.
Rajaković is now the second Serbian and European-born NBA head coach in the league, the first being fellow Serbian Igor Kokoskov who spent one season as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns from 2018 to 2019.
He was asked what this opportunity means to him and his community.
“This means the world to me, means so much to the Serbian community. Here in Toronto, a lot of people reached out to me. It means a lot to my family back home and a whole basketball community in Serbia. I started coaching when I was 16 years old and now, some 27 years later…it’s unbelievable to choose to live in a city like Toronto. And I’m just proud to be over here today and to be present,” he explained.
According to a statement from the Raptors, Rajaković began his coaching career at the age of 16 with the Borac Cacak Youth Team in his hometown of Cacak, Serbia where he spent three seasons (1996-99) with the team. Afterwards, he went on to be named the head coach of the U20 and U18 teams of Red Star Belgrade and led Red Star to two Serbian Youth championships during his eight-year tenure (1999-2007).
In terms of his coaching philosophy, Rajaković says the biggest reward to him is witnessing players improve, watching the team grow, and seeing the organization thrive overall.
“I’m trying to wake up every single day, with every day on my mind, how can I help? How can I serve? How can I improve everybody in the organization?” he said.
Rajaković also shared the strengths he can bring to the table and his ambitions for the team.
“I see my love and the passion for the game and my commitment to the team as my biggest strength. This is not about me. This is about those guys. This is about a team, how we’re going to get to the next level. My goal is not to get one player, but all 17 players in the roster, how we can improve those guys and help those guys,” he said.
He says to him the season does not start in October, but three days ago when he was appointed as head coach.
