The Spaniard Jordi Fernández, main assistant coach of the Sacramento Kings, was named the new coach of the Canadian men’s team this Wednesday, after the resignation of Nick Nurse and in view of the next world championship, which will be played between August 25 and 10 september.

“Con Jordi, hemos encontrado un entrenador jefe que tiene una valiosa experiencia en FIBA ​​y NBA, y pone en este momento a nuestro equipo en una posición para ganar”, commented Rowan Barrett, general manager of the senior men’s team at the Federación de Baloncesto from Canada.

“Jordi has developed a great reputation working with some of the best players in the world, and we believe the culture and connection he will establish with our team will allow us to be successful this summer,” Barrett added, referring to a Cup of the world. which will be played in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

Barrett stressed that the Canadian players’ “objectives” for this next World Cup “remain unchanged”, being “focused on qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics”. This will therefore be the first challenge for Fernández, who recently completed his first season as associate head coach of the Kings.

Under first coach Mike Brown, the Catalan helped the Sacramento side reach a Western Conference record of 48 wins and 34 losses, posting their best regular season since 2004/05 and returning to the NBA playoffs. for the first time. time since 2006.

On December 15 last year, Fernández became the first Spaniard to practice in an NBA game, after Brown was ejected for a technical double against the Toronto Raptors. As “associate head coach”, Fernández took over the reins of the team with more than 21 minutes remaining.