Canada Basketball has announced the appointment of Jordi Fernandez as the Senior Men’s National team head coach. He will take over the program from former Raptors HC Nick Nurse, who helmed the Canadian program since June of 2019.
“On behalf of our program, I’d like to thank Nick for his contributions to our team and wish him and his family well in his new role moving forward,” said Rowan Barrett, GM of the Senior Men’s Program.
“With Jordi, we have found a head coach who has both valuable FIBA and NBA experience and puts our team in a position to win right now,” said Barrett. “Jordi has developed a tremendous reputation working with some of the best players in the world, and we feel that the culture and connection he will build with our team will set us up for success this summer,” Barrett continued.
“Our goals for the upcoming FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup remain unchanged, and we are focused on qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
The 40 year old sports an impressive resume with everything from NBA, G-League, and international level experience. Amongst his many positions with the sport, he’s held the following roles:
-Player Development Coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2009-13)
-Assistant Coach with Spain’s U19 Men’s Team (2013)
-Head Coach of the Canton Charge (2014-2016)
-Assistant Coach with Spain’s Senior Men’s National Team (2017-19)
-Assistant Coach with the Denver Nuggets (2016-22)
-Lead Assistant Coach with Nigeria’s Senior Men’s National Team (2020)
-Associate Head Coach with the Sacramento Kings (2022-Present)
In his first season with the Kings, he helped the franchise snap a 17 year playoff drought as the club went 48-34 and won the Pacific Division crown.
“To have the chance to lead Canada this summer at the World Cup is a tremendously exciting opportunity and one I’m extremely grateful for,” Fernández said. “Not many international programs have the ceiling that this team does, and it is a testament to the hard work and development Canada Basketball, as well as Nick and his staff, have put in over the last several years.”
With Nurse’s departure from the Raptors organization this summer, news that he was stepping down from his role with Canada Basketball wasn’t a shock to many. Fernandez’s name was one that was on the radar of the Canadian program for several years, with news breaking last night that had formally accepted the position prior to Canada Basketball making things official on Wednesday morning.
Rumours have also been making the rounds north of the border, that with a new bench boss in tow, several “high profile” players who have kept an arms length distance from the program in recent international windows, may reconsider their stance. While no one will doubt Nurse’s credentials as an in game tactician, there had been whispers behind the scenes that a few prominent figures were rubbed the wrong way by Nurse’s approach to the National Team.
The plan now is for the Senior Men’s National Team to gather in Toronto for a training camp period in early August. Following this, they’ll head overseas for exhibition games in preparation for the upcoming World Cup.
The FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup is set to take place in the Philippines, with the Finals slated for the capital city of Manila. The tournament runs from August 25th to September 10th.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Matti Blume. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.