Jordi Fernández, the first coach born in Spain to take the reins of an NBA team, assured this Tuesday that he wants to excite the Brooklyn Nets but also avoided comparisons with the New York Knicks who, apart from being neighbors and rivals, are signing a fantastic season.
“You have to generate enthusiasm. I think showing change from the beginning is important. But the internal expectations are very different from the external ones because in the end we live our daily lives,” said Fernández.
“In the NBA there are no impossible benches or perfect benches. Brooklyn is a large market, with an owner who provides all the necessary means, an excellent organization, a general manager who has a lot of experience and who has proven to do things very well. The only thing that is obvious to me is the illusion of being able to have an exciting project because comparing ourselves to the Knicks does not make any sense: we have to create our own identity,” he added.
Fernández stressed that he has “a lot of respect, obviously” for the Knicks and for “the rivalry” of the two New York teams and hoped that, from that respect, they can beat them as many times as possible.
After the official presentation last Wednesday in Brooklyn and his first attention to the media in the US as the new coach of the Nets, the Badalona coach spoke this Tuesday with Spanish journalists via a video call.
The Canadian coach, with whom he won bronze in the last World Cup, has to combine during these first months his beginnings in the Nets with the preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but he did not confirm that in the future he will keep both responsibilities.
“Right now what I have is a commitment (with the Canadian team) until the Olympics (…). I think we will have a very special group to compete and to aspire to everything,” he said.
“From now on I don’t know if I can answer because the truth is that my commitment is until the end of the Olympics. I can also tell you that, if it weren’t for the Canadian federation and team, I surely wouldn’t be where I am. And, well, thank you for the opportunity to be in an Olympics as head coach, which for me is a dream (…). I would like to continue training in FIBA but it is not something I can decide right now,” he added.
Beyond considering his landing in Brooklyn a “end of the road or end of the road,” the Catalan coach placed his signing for the Nets as another step in his growth over the years in American basketball, facing responsibilities from the lowest to the highest. high.
“I am very excited and it is an honor, but for me the most important thing is not only to arrive but to stay (…). I have the goal of staying there for many years and having a very competitive group,” he said.
Fernández joins the Nets who have had a very disappointing season (32-50 balance, eleventh in the East out of play in) and whose squad, awaiting moves in the coming months, includes names like Mikal Bridges , the controversial Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton (free agent this summer), Cam Thomas, Dennis Schroder or Cam Johnson.
2024-04-30 16:48:48
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