Phoenix Suns coach Igor Kokoskov's journey began with near-fatal auto accident

Scott Bordow | The Republic | azcentral.com

Igor Kokoskov glances at his watch. The interview is going on 20 minutes and he has things he needs to do.

There are assistant coaches to hire, college players to evaluate, draft workouts to be run and a thousand other things, he’s sure.

Other than the quick look at his watch, however, he doesn’t reveal his impatience. He’s gracious and funny, and when the interview finally ends after 30 minutes or so, he sticks around for another couple minutes to chat.

Kokoskov has reached the pinnacle of his profession. After 19 years as an assistant, he’s finally an NBA head coach. A dream job, he says. But the news conference is over and the work has begun, and the last thing he wants to do on this Friday in late spring is sit down with a reporter for a half-hour.

But he does so without complaint or resorting to brusque, cliche answers that might be taken as dutifully fulfilling an obligation he'd rather not have. Near the end of the interview, he's asked about his good nature.

Kokoskov smiles and tells of a story of an 18-year-old boy sitting in a hospital bed in Serbia, robbed of his basketball career by a near-fatal, head-on collision. He talks about 11 surgeries and doctors who weren’t sure they could save his left ankle and how, one day, he realized that maybe things weren't so bad after all.

“I felt bad it happened to me,” he says. “I’m 18 years old and I can’t ever play basketball again. But then it came to my mind thinking it could be worse. I started to appreciate what I have at the age of 18. It’s a hard lesson to understand.

“That was maybe the most happiest time in my life, just appreciating what I have. It’s a good message for all of us. Just don’t take it for granted and just don’t think about what we don’t have. Just appreciate what we have.”

Now, Kokoskov has what he’s wanted all along: an opportunity.

A life altered

Suns' Igor Kokoskov talks about his childhood in Belgrade New Phoenix Suns coach Igor Kokoskov talks about growing up in Belgrade.

Kokoskov grew up in Belgrade. His dad was an X-ray technician at a hospital. His mom worked for the government as an economist.

“An ordinary family,” he said.

Belgrade was a safe haven from the civil war that tore Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s but the stories and images left a lasting impression on Kokoskov. His relationships – with colleagues, players, his family – are shaped by the struggle that was all around him.

“How easy it is to create a conflict, how easy it is to put hate between people,” he said. “How difficult it is to rebuild the love.”

Like a lot of boys growing up in Yugoslavia, Kokoskov idolized Drazen Petrovic, the Croation-born guard who became one of the best shooters in the NBA before he died in a car accident at the age of 28. “A rock star,” Kokoskov called Petrovic, and he wanted that same life.

But then he was driving on a two-way highway in Europe and a car coming from the opposite direction crossed the lane and slammed into Kokoskov’s car. His dream, in one moment, was over.

“My ankle was completely destroyed,” Kokoskov said. “At that point, I understood my body could never deal with the challenges professional sports require. It’s pure athleticism and I would never keep up. But I knew I was going to stay with basketball. Basketball is my life.”

What’s a basketball junkie to do when he can’t play? He coaches.

So Kokoskov’s coaching journey started. At 24, he became the youngest coach in Yugoslavia history when he led OKK Beograd. Two years later, after making connections with coaches in the U.S, he told the president of his team that it was time to leave.

“My instincts were telling me I should be here and learn from the best and demystify American basketball for around the world,” Kokoskov said. “I never came here searching for a job. My job was focusing on getting better.”

Kokoskov traveled to Connecticut and spent time with Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma. He went to Northwestern, Illinois and DePaul. Then, after returning to Belgrade to continue coaching his club team, he called Jeff LaMere, director of basketball operations at Duke, and said, “I would like to learn from the best.”

Meaning Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Suns' Igor Kokoskov talks about his mentors New Phoenix Suns coach Igor Kokoskov talks about his mentors Mike Krzyzewski and Joe Dumars.

After talking with LaMere, Krzyzewski invited Kokoskov to come over and be part of the program for a year. Kokoskov wasn’t officially an assistant, but he participated in coaches' and players' meetings, shootarounds and practices. It was at Duke that he formed a close friendship with associate head coach Quin Snyder, a relationship that 20 years later would lead him to the Suns.

“Coach K was the head coach so I couldn’t spend much time with him, but Quin Snyder and myself, we spent hours and hours talking about all different topics. Xs and Os, individual workouts, body position, footwork, everything," Kokoskov said. "We just clicked.”

The coaching journey

One of the first calls Snyder made after being named Missouri’s coach in 1999 was to Kokoskov, who became the first full-time European assistant in NCAA Division I history.

“We were kindred spirits,” Snyder told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I wanted him with me.”

Their working relationship lasted one season. Kokoskov moved on to the NBA when the Los Angeles Clippers and head coach Alvin Gentry made him the first non-American to be hired as a full-time assistant coach.

From there, Kokoskov lived the vagabond assistant’s life, moving on to Detroit, Phoenix, Cleveland, Orlando and, in Utah, reunited with Snyder. He coached in Eurasia for the Georgia national team from 2008-15 and became Slovenia’s national coach in 2016.

With every stop, Kokoskov built his reputation. He became known for his creativity in designing offensive schemes and his player development skills.

“He’s a basketball junkie,” said Sacramento Kings General Manager Vlade Divac, a longtime friend. “Offensively his mind is just … he always finds a way to put his players in position to succeed. That’s priceless.”

Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough was wowed by Kokoskov’s offensive designs when he watched Slovenia win EuroBasket 2017. Opponents knew Kokoskov wanted guards Goran Dragic and Luka Doncic to get most of the scoring opportunities, McDonough said, and Kokoskov was still able to get them open looks.

“It was pretty impressive,” McDonough said. "The spacing and cutting and amount of different options available for each player. It was high level. It’s not often I watch something after having watched basketball for 15 years and not only see something impressive but innovate and different from what I’ve seen before. It was just a fountain of movement. Not many teams move like that, pass like that and cut that hard.

“When we were talking to people about him everybody was blown away by his basketball intellect and his creativity.”

New Suns assistant coach Corliss Williamson can testify to Kokoskov’s player-development skills. Williamson was a 30-year-old forward for the Detroit Pistons in the 2003-04 season, pretty certain he knew there was everything to know about the NBA.

Then he started working with Kokoskov, a first-year assistant with Detroit.

“It’s just his personality, the way he’s able to connect,” Williamson said. “He showed me little tidbits of the game, little tricks. We worked on the Rondo move (Rajon Rondo’s ball fake) one day until I got the footwork right. That and just a couple of things about my game, different ways to get my shot off and create space.”

Said Divac: “He’s a very good development coach, and I think for Phoenix that’s very important. He’s going to take the youngsters to the next level.”

Dan Majerle and Kokoskov were together for nearly five seasons as Suns assistant coaches under Gentry. Even then, Majerle said, he saw in Kokoskov the makings of an NBA head coach.

“Just his work ethic, his attention to detail, how he loves to be in the gym,” Majerle said. “We always talk about the way he develops young players, which is true. He spends a lot of time with them and works on their weaknesses.

“I think it was a great hire. He’ll command respect right away and he’ll have a great system.”

Dan Majerle: Kokoskov a 'lifer'

Suns' Igor Kokoskov: There are no shortcuts to winning New Phoenix Suns coach Igor Kokoskov talks about his approach to coaching.

So what does Kokoskov do when he’s not coaching basketball? He thinks about basketball.

“That’s my hobby,” Kokoskov said. “I’m glad my job today is my hobby, also. Maybe our parents, they were not so fortunate. Obviously we work, too, but this is my pleasure.”

“He’s a lifer,” Majerle added. “That’s all he wants to do. It’s family (wife, Patricia; son, Luka; daughter, Elina-Grace) and basketball. That’s what he’s about.”

Kokoskov, 46, may not have a lot of outside interests, but he’s careful not to let his single-minded focus turn into obsession on the sideline. McDonough said Kokoskov’s even-keeled attitude reminds him of Boston’s Brad Stevens, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and, not surprisingly, Snyder.

“It’s a long season with a lot of games and a lot of ups and downs,” McDonough said. “You can’t get too high or too low. He has a good blend of experience, passion and personality.”

“You have to pick your battles when you deal with people and when you deal with your players,” Kokoskov said. “I would just say I treat my players with nothing but respect. It’s all about the players. One of the things that I like about my coaching is that I’m not a complainer. I don’t search for more. Every player has a weakness and strength. Let’s try to emphasize his strength and cover his weaknesses.”

That said, Kokoskov made it clear he has expectations that must be met.

“You have to win games,” he said. “There’s no excuse. You can say Chris Paul didn’t play Game 7 (of the Western Conference finals) for Houston. You can say we’re too young. You can use all the excuses, but no one really cares about that. All they care about in this profession, in this business, is winning. So just get it done.”

“Guys will understand he’s there for one reason," Majerle said. "That’s to win and get you better. You have to buy in to what he’s selling or you won’t be there.”

Twenty-eight years have passed since the auto accident. As Kokoskov clips off the small microphone and slides it under his shirt, he reflects again on the basketball player he thought he would be, the coach he became and how tragedy can turn into triumph.

“When I was 18 years old, what if I wasn’t able to walk? I wouldn’t be able to coach,” he says. “I wouldn’t be able to be where I am right now. That’s why that was the happiest time in my life. I was blessed.

“I still am.”

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