Even if he had been fired by the Raptors, Nick Nurse retained ties to Canada since he was still the coach of the national team, which he was to lead at the 2023 World Cup and then at the 2024 Olympics.
Except ESPN announced that this would ultimately not be the case, and that Jordi Fernandez would take his place!
Nick Nurse has he decided to slam the door of the Canadian selection now that he no longer works in Toronto, and that he coaches the Sixers? Or is it rather a decision coming from the direction of Canada?
A future “head coach” in the NBA
For the moment, we do not know but it is therefore Jordi Fernandez, assistant to Mike Brown at the Kings, who takes over. The latter, aged 40, is seen as a future “head coach” in the NBA since he was one of the candidates interviewed by Toronto, Phoenix and Milwaukee when these teams were looking for a head coach.
The Spaniard, who learned his skills with Mike Brown at the Cavaliers from 2009 to 2013, working notably with Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson or Dion Waiters, then went through the G-League before joining Mike Malone’s staff at Denver between 2016 and 2022. Then to find Mike Brown at the Kings last year.
He was also an assistant for the U19 team of Spain and the selection of Nigeria at the Tokyo Olympics.
Placed in Group H at the 2023 World Cup, along with France, Latvia and Lebanon, Canada has big ambitions with its host of selectable NBA players: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort, Dwight Powell or even Kelly Olynyk…
