A look at Raptors new head coach Darko Rajakovic
, but he has a coaching pedigree that spans almost three decades from Serbia, to Spain, to North America.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 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 . 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.
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.
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