While new Brooklyn Nets' HC Jordi Fernandez is busy preparing Team Canada for the 2024 Paris Olympics, general manager Sean Marks met with the media to gush about the job Fernandez and the rest of the coaching staff have done since being assembled.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed Jordi and the entire coaching staff," Marks said in a video posted by YES Network. "Every coaching staff comes in with their own culture and vibe. This is a different feel, a different vibe. I've been really, really thrilled with how this group, and specifically Jordi [Fernandez] is approaching this."
Marks concluded by adding support for Fernandez in Team Canada's early practice stages.
The new culture Marks touched on is Fernandez's new "development first" philosophy, one far different from the Nets of the last decade. Previous Brooklyn success has been banked on massive blockbuster deals, attempting to acquire as many superstars as possible in hopes of NBA glory. Now having hit the reset button, Marks and Fernandez look to rebuild the right way, through developing younger talent and stocking up on future assets.
The 41-year-old head coach has a long resume of player development beginning in 2006, where he spent three years at Impact Basketball Academy specializing in player development. He then spent the next four seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the same role. This is simply what he does, and he is exactly what Brooklyn needs as they begin this new era surely full of a lack of success.
Marks seems confident that while the darkest days are ahead, Fernandez is the guy to finally get this franchise where it has always strived to be.
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