Jordi Fernández discusses coaching staff, player development at local middle school
Brooklyn’s new head coach made his first public comments since his introduction, and provided some insight on the direction of the franchise. Jordi Fernández’s first public comments as the newest head coach of the Brooklyn Nets were made in a standard introductory presser at HSS Training Facility on April 24.
His next public comments came on Monday morning, just a few blocks east at Charles O. Dewey middle school in Sunset Park, where Fernández was leading a hoops clinic for the local kids.
In the lab with Coach Fernández! Coach stopped by the Charles Dewey School in Sunset Park for a @NetsAcademy clinic with the kids pic.twitter.com/Bo0c3TaWKR— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) June 3, 2024
Brian Lewis of the Post and Evan Barnes of Newsday were there to cover his appearance, and each reported that Fernández repeatedly emphasized the importance of building “sweat equity,” not just to the crowd of middle schoolers weaving through cones, but when talking about his duties as Brooklyn’s HC.
Said Fernández, “Right now, I feel like we have that energy that the guys need because if we bring the energy as a coaching staff, players have no choice [but to do the same]. And that’s what we’re going to do every single day, and getting 1 percent better every day, which is going to take us into getting better every week, every month.”
And it appears that he and his players have already started building their sweat equity over summer workouts, Lewis reports that Fernández has already visited Ben Simmons down in Miami, where Brooklyn’s max-contract player is conducting his off-season workouts.
Largely, though, the 41-year-old has been stationed in Brooklyn since his hiring, making frequent appearances at New York Liberty games at the Barclays Center. And since his supporting coaching staff has been finalized, Fernández has been bringing them along, hopefully learning a thing or two from the 7-2 Libs.
Breanna Stewart taking a picture with some of the Brooklyn Nets' incoming coaching staff (Juwan Howard, Steve Hetzel, Jordi Fernández, left-to-right) and Clara Wu Tsai: pic.twitter.com/4AbItOufx6— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) May 30, 2024
Fernández spoke about his staff on Monday morning, noting “the common thread is bringing energy on the court, a lot of player development-oriented coaches, and also coaches with a lot of experience as players.”
“I was not a professional player, so it’s important that we have enough guys that’ve done it. Juwan [Howard], obviously, has done at a very high level, and some other coaches that have played at a high level, and they can still hoop with the guys. That’s important.”
Introducing the 2024-25 Brooklyn Nets coaching staff pic.twitter.com/STsFRIIkPE— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) May 31, 2024
Does that signal a potential direction for Brooklyn, stuck somewhere between a rebuild and a playoff-level squad? It’s too soon to say, but as the seventh-youngest roster in the NBA after trading away 30-year-olds Spencer Dinwiddie and Royce O’Neale at the 2024 trade deadline, young players like Noah Clowney, Jalen Wilson, and even Cam Thomas will need to make progress as rotational contributors no matter what.
“There’s no better player development in the world than playing real minutes,” said Fernández. “And we value real minutes, not just in the NBA but also the G-League. And we have all the resources we need to help our guys get better. But at the end of the day, we’re going to value team success over everything else. So it’s gonna be a clear message from the beginning; we’re gonna expect these guys to work really hard every day.”
If Fernández’s effort leading drills on Monday morning is any indication, he’ll have no problem setting the standard for the Nets when training camp commences in the fall...
pic.twitter.com/LVRfcaBB3R— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) June 3, 2024
Until then, though, he’ll have his hands full. Fernández will soon depart for Toronto then Las Vegas to lead Team Canada through mini-camp, which will coincide with Summer League action, before heading to Paris and the Summer Olympics. All the while, he'll be keeping tabs a Nets roster that could be in flux.
Jordi Fernandez constructed his first Nets staff with player development in mind - Brian Lewis - New York Post
New Nets coach stresses ‘sweat equity’ for kids and his players ($) - Evan Barnes - Newsday
Brooklyn Basketball youth clinic offers glimpse at Nets’ culture under Jordi Fernandez ($) - C.J. Holmes - New York Daily News
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