As a result, he began coaching the youth team in his hometown of Čačak, 150 kilometres south of Belgrade. He moved to the youth team of the program colloquially known as Belgrade Red Star three years later. In the meantime, he started working with Milan Petronijevic, a Serbian coach who worked with Radislav Ćurčić, one of the country’s first players to make it to the NBA. Petronijevic helped him learn how to plan for practices and work with players in a one-on-one setting. His ability to work with players individually, getting them to buy into what he was teaching, has been a huge part of his climb in the NBA. Russell Westbrook was one of the first three people to call Rajaković after he got the Raptors job, and congratulations from some of his other former players were easy to find on social media. “I would definitely text him, saying, ‘I need you at this time.’ He was always there,” said Jeremy Lamb, who played for Rajaković in the Oklahoma City organization in both the D-League and NBA. “Literally, I can’t remember a time where he said, ‘Oh, I got something to do.’ He was always there. He was a gym rat.” -via The Athletic / August 2, 2023