Feb. 17, 2015
ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic have named Igor Kokoskov (kuh-KOS-kov) assistant coach, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today.
Kokoskov, 43, has spent 14 seasons as an assistant coach in the NBA, most recently with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2013-14 campaign. During his tenure on an NBA bench, Kokoskov’s teams have made six conference finals appearances, two NBA Finals trips and captured one NBA World Championship.
Prior to joining the Cavaliers, Kokoskov spent five seasons with the Phoenix Suns from 2008-13. He also spent five seasons with the Detroit Pistons from 2003-08, reaching the conference finals in each campaign and earning the 2004 NBA title.
In 2000, Kokoskov became the first full-time, non-American assistant coach in NBA history, when he was named to Alvin Gentry’s staff with the Los Angeles Clippers. He spent three seasons with the Clippers from 2000-03. Kokoskov later became the first non-American assistant to win an NBA championship and also the first to serve on an NBA All-Star Game coaching staff. Kokoskov also owns the distinction of being the first European coach to hold a full-time position with an NCAA Division I-A school, when he served as an assistant at the University of Missouri during the 1999-00 season under Quin Snyder, now head coach of the Utah Jazz.
A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Kokoskov owns extensive international experience as a head coach and assistant coach. He was an assistant with the Serbian national team at the 2004 Athens Olympics under renowned European coach Zeljko Obradovic. Kokoskov has enjoyed seven successful summers (2008-14) as the national team head coach for the Republic of Georgia. His team has twice qualified for the European Championships during his tenure, something the nation had never done previously. In 2012, his work with the national team earned him the Order of Honour, Georgia’s highest civilian honor.
Prior to his move to the United States, Kokoskov instructed the former Yugoslavia’s top amateur and professional players for eight years, including a stint as an assistant coach for the nation’s junior national team. He has participated in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program and administered other clinics throughout Africa and Europe.
Kokoskov and his wife, Patricia, were married in the summer of 2009. The couple has two children: a son, Luka, and daughter, Elina-Grace.