Raptors mob Rajaković with water bottles after first win as NBA head coach

It’s safe to say Darko Rajaković won’t soon forget his first win with the Toronto Raptors.

On Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena, the 44-year-old first-time head coach picked up his first career win in Toronto’s season opener, a grind-it-out 97-94 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. While he’s been in the NBA since 2014 as an assistant coach, Wednesday’s win puts him 1-0 in times running the bench during regular season games.

And in Toronto’s locker room, his players were waiting for him with a shower of cold water bottles.

An emphatic Rajaković embraced the oncoming shower, while a loud “let’s f***ing go” could be heard in the moment captured by the team’s in-house video staff.

“Not champagne, a lot of ice water,” Rajaković told reporters of the moment with a laugh.

NIGHT IN, NIGHT OUT 😤🏀
Open Gym: Moment presented by @Bell pic.twitter.com/zVvlqiWQZB

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) October 26, 2023

“It was a good celebration, everyone was pretty excited for him,” Toronto’s O.G. Anunoby said. “Everyone was pretty excited for Darko, so it was pretty cool.”

Before the game, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch — who served as an assistant with Toronto in 2020-21 — offered up some advice for the first-time head coach in a question asked by Daily Hive.

“I would tell him to make sure to soak it all in and continue to soak it all in because I’m sure he’s living his dream right now,” Finch said. “It’s incredibly important to enjoy these things, I’m sure he will. And having been here, he’s surrounded by an incredible organization with the right amount of support, and those guys will do a great job of giving him every opportunity to be successful.”

Rajaković and the Raptors will be hitting the road for a Friday night matchup in Chicago, before returning to Toronto on Saturday to take on the Nick Nurse-led Philadelphia 76ers back at Scotiabank Arena.

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