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Jordi Fernandez will be the new head coach of Canada, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Fernandez, the associate head coach at the Sacramento Kings, will begin his job with the Canadian national team in the upcoming FIBA World Cup.
In April, it was reported that Nick Nurse, now head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, will continue at the helm of Canada. Apparently, that won’t be the case and the 2019 NBA champion is reported to have decided to step down, passing the torch to Fernandez.
Fernandez previously served as an assistant coach to Mike Brown on the Nigerian national team during the 2020 Olympic Games. This year, the Spanish coach was a candidate for multiple vacancies at the helm of NBA teams, including those at the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns.
Canada will begin its World Cup journey in Group H (Jakarta, Indonesia) together with France, Latvia and Lebanon. The top two teams advance to the next round.
A projected Canada roster for the World Cup may include several NBAers such as recently crowned champion Jamal Murray, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and New York Knicks forward RJ Barrett.