Canada Basketball Shares Update on Jordi Fernandez Ahead of Olympics

The Canadian senior men's national team says Jordi Fernandez will remain as the team's head coach heading into the Paris Olympics this summer

December 16, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Jordi Fernandez is sticking with the Team Canada.

The Canadian senior men’s national team announced Fernandez plans to be with the team this summer at the Paris Olympics despite being named the new coach of the Brooklyn Nets.

“We have been working closely with both Jordi and the Nets throughout this process and we can confirm that Jordi will remain as our coach this summer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as we look to build on the success we had last summer,” said Rowan Barrett, the general manager of the Canadian men’s team.

Fernandez joined the organization last summer following the departure of former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse who stepped down from his position as head coach of the Canadian men’s team. Nurse took a job with the Philadelphia 76ers and was unable to continue coaching the Canadian team last summer.

This summer will be the first time the Canadian senior men’s national team has qualified for the Olympics in over two decades. The team clinched a bronze medal last summer at the FIBA World Cup, knocking off Spain to clinch an Olympic bid.

Canada will enter the tournament as the seventh-ranked team in the world and will take on Australia and two Olympic qualifiers out of the qualifying tournaments in Spain and Greece this summer.

Fernandez has previously been an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings.

The Raptors spoke to Fernandez last summer about potentially becoming the team’s next head coach following Nurse’s departure. Darko Rajaković was eventually named the team’s next head coach.