Jordi Fernández faces his 3rd season in the NBA: Will it be the confirmation year?
The Spanish is the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, who have struggled to achieve results since his arrival
Badalona is one of the great cradles of Spanish basketball. The city has had three teams in the top national category, saw Joventut conquer the European Cup in 1994, and welcomed the Dream Team from the United States during the Olympic Games of 1992. From its courts have emerged figures such as Jordi Villacampa, the Jofresa brothers, Josep Maria Margall, Ricky Rubio, and Rudy Fernández. But Badalona has also produced great coaches. Among them stands out Jordi Fernández, who made history by becoming the first Spaniard to coach an NBA team.
From Joventut's youth teams to the United States
Born in Badalona in 1982, Jordi Fernández began his training as a player in the youth categories of Joventut. However, he soon discovered that his future was on the sidelines. At just 15 years old, he started coaching youth teams and took his first steps in clubs like Sant Josep de Badalona, Sant Boi, and CB L'Hospitalet. At the same time, he studied Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and developed a special interest in sports psychology.
In 2006, he decided to move to the United States to continue his training. There, he worked at Impact Basketball, a Las Vegas academy specializing in player development, where he met Mike Brown, then coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The American coach was impressed by his work and offered him an opportunity in the Ohio franchise. In 2009, at just 26 years old, Fernández began his career in the NBA, the first step on a path that would lead him fifteen years later to coach his own team.
LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, and a rising career
Fernández spent four seasons in the player development department of the Cavaliers. That experience allowed him to understand from the inside how an NBA franchise operates and to work in an environment where LeBron James stood out.
In 2013, he made the leap to the Canton Charge, a team linked to Cleveland that competed in the Development League. He started as an assistant coach, and a year later, he took on the role of head coach. During his two seasons at the helm, he achieved 62 victories in 100 regular season games, results that reinforced his prospects as a coach.
His next destination was Denver. In 2016, he joined the Nuggets as an assistant to Mike Malone, a position he held for six seasons. During that time, he coincided with Nikola Jokic's rise and was part of a team that competed in four consecutive playoffs, including the Western Conference Finals in 2020.
In 2022, he moved to Sacramento to work as an assistant to Mike Brown, the same coach who had opened the doors of the NBA to him years earlier. During this period, the Kings returned to the playoffs in 2023 after 16 seasons without qualifying.
Success with Canada before making history
Jordi Fernández's journey has also been linked to national team basketball. He was an assistant to Sergio Scariolo on the Spanish national team and was part of the coaching staff for Nigeria at the Tokyo Olympic Games. In 2023, he assumed the role of head coach for Canada and achieved a historic bronze medal at the World Cup after defeating the United States in the third-place match.
That international success enhanced his prestige and preceded the greatest challenge of his professional career. On April 22, 2024, the Brooklyn Nets announced his hiring as head coach. Fernández thus became the first Spaniard to permanently occupy one of the thirty NBA benches, culminating a journey that began on the training courts of Badalona.
The challenge of building a winning project in Brooklyn
At 43 years old, Jordi Fernández is entering his third season leading the Brooklyn Nets after two challenging campaigns marked by the franchise's rebuilding. In his first year, he achieved 26 wins, while in the second, the team reached only 20.
However, the results do not fully reflect the work involved in developing a long-term project. Brooklyn entrusted Fernández with building the franchise's future and reaffirmed its commitment to him last April when it extended his and his staff's contracts for several seasons.
The 2026-27 season presents a potential turning point. After two years focused on developing young talents, the next objective will be to start converting that work into victories. Fernández thus faces a new chapter in a career that has taken him from the youth basketball of Badalona to one of the most responsible positions in the NBA.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Jordi Fernández afronta su 3ª temporada en la NBA: ¿Será la de la confirmación?
