Dennis Schröder has a new head coach. His Brooklyn Nets officially announced on Tuesday night that Spaniard Jordi Fernandez will take over the sporting fortunes with immediate effect
“A historic moment,” rejoiced the Spanish basketball association on the short message service X, shortly after the signature of the new head coach of the Brooklyn Nets had dried. Jordi Fernandez will be the new man in charge on the Nets’ sideline, making him the first Spaniard to take over as head coach in the NBA.
The 41-year-old succeeds Kevin Ollie, who took over on an interim basis on the sidelines after Jacque Vaughn was sacked in February. The team led by German national team captain Dennis Schröder, who only joined the Nets from Toronto shortly before the trade deadline, only achieved a record of 32 wins to 50 defeats in the past season and missed out on the playoffs.
World Championship bronze as Canada’s national coach
This is exactly where Fernandez, born in Barcelona, should lead the Nets again. “The further we got in our intensive search over the past six weeks, the clearer it became that Jordi is the best coach to lead our team into the future,” General Manager Sean Marks was quoted as saying in a statement. Fernandez brings a wide range of experience and a lot of basketball knowledge from his previous coaching career.
In the past two years, Fernandez worked as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings under Mike Brown, before that he spent six years as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets. He has also been the national coach of Canada since 2023. He led the team to a bronze medal at the 2023 World Cup in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.