Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said his first season on the job has been as much about leadership as basketball, and his comments made clear how much he values the people around him.
“Yeah, it’s been growth, and I’ve had to learn how to be in this position,” Fernandez said, via HoopsHype. “Obviously, when you get the job, you always believe that you’re ready for it, and even though you’ve coached and you’ve been a head coach before, probably basketball is the easiest part of it.”
Fernandez described the daily demands of the role as something bigger than game planning, pointing to the responsibility that comes with managing an entire organization.
“But then you have the head coaching duties and what it means, and the amount of people that you’re responsible for, and the amount of people that you’ve got to touch every day,” he said. “I think that’s been a great journey so far. I’ve learned, I’ve grown, and the best thing is being around good people.”
That theme carried through the rest of his remarks, especially when he spoke about the culture the Nets are trying to build. Brooklyn finished 2025-26 with a young core that includes Michael Porter Jr., Nic Claxton, Noah Clowney and Egor Demin, and Fernandez said the program is still moving in the right direction.
“This organization is built and is still building the right things for the right things,” he said. “And we believe that we’ll keep taking those positive steps.”
Fernandez also explained how he has tried to carry lessons from coaches he has worked under, including Mike Brown, Michael Malone and Sergio Scariolo.
“I’ve learned that from especially Mike Brown, Michael Malone, and Sergio Scariolo is when somebody’s investing in you, you almost work not just hard, but harder,” Fernandez said. “Because you want to give back.”
He said that kind of trust changes the way people approach their work, because it creates a shared obligation to the group rather than the individual.
“It makes you have that willingness to do it right, do it for the team in the right reasons, because you want to grow and you want to take those steps, whatever your goals are in your career,” he said.
Fernandez closed by making clear that the Nets’ identity is built on collaboration, not one person carrying the load alone.
“But I think also is all of us, it’s not about one person, it’s about how we’re all organized and how we work together for the team to be the best that the team can be,” he said. “That’s always the mindset that I’ve believed in, what I’ve learned from others, and the way I wanted to do it here.”
