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Highlights from Jordi Fernandez’s Introductory Press Conference

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez

On Wednesday, the Brooklyn Nets introduced new head coach Jordi Fernandez.

The Nets hired Fernandez after a brief stint as the Sacramento Kings associate head coach and several seasons as an assistant for the Denver Nuggets. Listening to the 41-year-old, his mindset has led to his promotion as much as his experience, education and tactical expertise. He’s a promising leader.

Highlights from Jordi Fernandez’s Introductory Press Conference

“The youth excites me,” Fernandez says of the Nets’ roster.

Developing the Youth

“When you have a young roster and talented, that means that you’re going to have those guys for a long time. So you can develop them and they can perform at their best…”

“Our jobs as coaches is to work with those guys and take them to the next step,” Fernandez continues.

“If they don’t get better, it’s on me and the rest of the coaching staff. I’m excited about the process. I’m excited to get to work with them. I’ve already been in touch with every single one of them.”

“We’ll have a team that’s extremely competitive on both sides of the floor. A team that is connected. So, that means that they care about each other. And a team that is selfless; that is going to put the team first.

This will give us the identity that we need… If we’re able to fight, we care about each other, and we put the team first, we’re going to be very good in the long run.”

Nic Claxton ‘Fits Perfectly’

“Nic (Claxton) is a quote-unquote ‘big’ that has defensive versatility,” Fernandez says of the Nets’ impending free agent. “I believe he’ll be Defensive Player of the Year for us.”

“He’s a priority in this summer,” he continues, echoing the message relayed by Nets general manager Sean Marks.

“…Obviously, he’s very good in pick-and-roll. He’s quick to the rim. He puts pressure on the rim. His ability to play the dribble hand-off game, which as you guys know lately is a style that’s been very efficient and it helps us with ball-movement…

When everybody touches the ball and everybody’s involved, everybody’s happier. You’re harder to guard because you’re not that predictable… So he fits perfectly what we want to do moving forward.”

“Our roster right now would allow us to do a lot of things, like playing fast,” Fernandez explains, “which usually allows you to find the best shot (and) to be physical — extremely physical in the regular season.”

“Obviously,” he continues, “we want to be top-10 offensively and top-10 defensively. With the roster we have, we’ll be able to do that.”

Basketball Background

“My hometown, I don’t know if you guys know, but it’s probably one of the best basketball cities in Europe and I would say the world,” extols the Catalonia native.

“And it’s where I grew up and fell in love with basketball,” he reveals. “First as a player. I was not that good but I enjoyed playing. Then as a coach. I started coaching early, when I was 15. Then I coached and played until I was 19.”

“It’s the beginning of a new chapter, for my family, for myself,” Fernandez says, now that he’s a head coach at the NBA level.

“I always believed the next step of my career is never an ending point. The next step of my career is going to lead me into a challenge.

As you guys know, winning is extremely important. But the way want to do it, we want to sustain success and we want to do it in the long run.”

The way that Fernandez plans to effectuate sustainable success, in a word, is by teaching.

Learning from Kings head coach Mike Brown (his “American basketball father”) and Spanish team national coach Sergio Scariolo (his “European basketball father”) among other head coaches, he has a wealth of knowledge available to him. His pedagogy might veer from Brown and Scariolo’s own styles but like them, he’s shown himself to be as charismatic and thoughtful. He’s also demonstrated the ability to be calm under pressure.

These intangibles will lend themselves to how well his coaching is received. An underrated aspect of player development is how well a coach can get through to players. Like Brown and Scariolo, Fernandez should have plenty of success in this area.

“I think I’d like to start with my background. My education. Sports science education and sports psychology… As you guys know, coaches are teachers. To me, that’s been very important to get deal with different groups of players so they learn different ways.

…My experience in the NBA, my journey starting from player development positions to video, every step of the way I think that allows me to organize a coaching staff, give a clear message of what the process and structure will be so we can work with players…”

“My head coaching experiences in Europe, in the G League, and with the Canadian national team. I think that’s the exposure I needed but also the experience I needed. That’s going to be what’s going to help us do it ‘The Brooklyn Way.’”

“We’re excited not just to be a part of the community,” Fernandez says, “but also to create something that everybody else will be proud of.”

Quenton S Albertie

Quenton S Albertie

Quenton Albertie, a native of Ft. Hood, TX, is a credentialed media member with work featured on SLAM Magazine, Sports Illustrated, USA TODAY and other major publications. Currently residing in Atlanta, GA, Albertie’s favorite teams are the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Broncos.

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