Darko Rajaković explains why he left Red Star

Darko Rajaković has explained why he left Red Star in 2007. The current Toronto Raptors coach said eight of ten monthly wages were not paid.

Rajaković had worked in the club's youth system for several years. He eventually continued his career in Spain before moving into basketball in the United States.

His coaching work began at a young age

Rajaković started coaching at Borac Čačak when he was sixteen. Four years later, he moved to Red Star and worked with young players in Belgrade. Youth coaching gave him daily responsibility before most coaches reach senior roles. He planned practices, taught fundamentals and followed player development across several seasons.

The position did not provide financial stability. Rajaković said most of his monthly wages during the final period remained unpaid. He saw no reliable path forward inside the club. That situation led him to search for work outside Serbia rather than wait for another local team.

A move to Spain allowed him to continue coaching

Rajaković continued in Spain after leaving Belgrade. The move placed him in another basketball culture and required work in a new language and organisation. He did not immediately receive a major senior position. The next stage was built through youth development, scouting and detailed preparation.

Those years expanded his professional network beyond Serbia. They also made future opportunities in American basketball more realistic. Rajaković later joined the Tulsa 66ers in the NBA Development League. That role brought him directly into the system connected with Oklahoma City.

Darko Rajakovic gives instructions during an NBA game.

Nine seasons as an NBA assistant followed

Rajaković entered an NBA staff with Oklahoma City in 2014. He worked there before later assistant roles in Phoenix and Memphis. Each team gave him experience with different rosters and head coaches. Daily work included player preparation, video, opponent analysis and individual development.

The long assistant period created a clear record inside the league. Toronto appointed him as head coach in 2023 after that sequence of roles. His route did not include a EuroLeague head-coaching job. The career instead moved from Serbian youth basketball through Spain and the American development system.

Rajaković compared coaching in Europe and North America

He said work in the United States is more directly rewarded through performance. In his view, personal connections carry less weight in keeping a position. His comments came from personal experience rather than a complete judgment about every European club. The unpaid period at Red Star shaped that comparison.

Rajaković also praised the support surrounding EuroLeague teams. Full arenas and committed supporters remain one of European basketball's strongest qualities. He believes organisation still has room to improve. Better professional structures would help clubs match the energy already provided by supporters.

Leaving Red Star became one stage of a longer career

Leaving Red Star did not produce an immediate promotion. Rajaković spent years building experience before receiving responsibility for an NBA team. The unpaid wages remain a serious detail from that period. They explain why a young coach chose uncertainty abroad over another season in the same situation.

Toronto now judges him through NBA results and daily leadership. His work in Serbia remains the opening part of a career that developed across three countries. Rajaković's account connects those stages without turning the departure into a simple success story. It describes a practical decision made when stable work was unavailable.

Youth coaching formed his working habits

Working with young players requires clear explanations and repeated correction. Rajaković learned to divide complex actions into details that could be practised every day. Development also demands patience because progress does not follow one match. Coaches track movement, decision-making and confidence across months and seasons.

Those habits remained useful in the NBA. Senior professionals still need precise video examples and individual work, even when their technical level is much higher. Rajaković's early responsibilities therefore had lasting sporting value. The financial conditions around that work were the part that made his position impossible to continue.

His career in the United States included three NBA organisations

Oklahoma City brought Rajaković into an NBA staff after his development-league work. He learned inside a team that regularly competed in the Western Conference playoffs. Phoenix later gave him experience with another roster and organisational structure. Memphis followed before Toronto selected him for its leading coaching position.

Moving between teams expanded the number of players and systems he encountered. It also required him to earn trust again under each new head coach. Toronto's appointment was therefore based on a long body of work. It came sixteen years after the departure from Red Star described in his recent comments.