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Before the game that ended in the Denver Nuggets‘ victory over the Brooklyn Nets Jordi Fernandezthe NBA champion coach in 2023, Michael Malonepraised the Badalona coach and highlighted a quality that makes him special.
Both coaches shared a team in their respective stages in the Cleveland Cavaliers and, later, in the Nuggets, where Malone hired Fernández to collaborate on the staff, so they know each other very well. When they asked him about Jordi, Michael Malone did not skimp on praise.
Michael Malone highlighted a quality of Jordi Fernández
In a conference and before the game, Malone was asked about Jordi Fernández and responded the following: “From my father I learned that, as a coach, you can know all the keys to the game… But if you don’t have a relationship with your players, none of that matters.. I think it’s something that caught my attention with Jordi.Malone acknowledged.
In that sense, he said: “Yes, we trained, we taught. But he made an effort to have a relationship with our players off the court, as men, as people, and I think that helped a lot. That takes you to a better point in the relationship with the players.”, he stated.
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For his part, he revealed details of how his relationship with the Spanish coach began: “We met many years ago in Cleveland, when we were both working for Mike Brown. He was the one who brought Jordi to develop players, help his son Elijah. You could see Jordi’s enthusiasm for the game, his passion, and how he worked to get to where he is.”, he expressed.
I have asked Mike Malone about Jordi Fernández. The Nuggets coach was the first coach to opt for Jordi as an assistant.
“The best assistant I’ve ever had,” he said. pic.twitter.com/4KenlCoDLO
— Alejandro Gaitán (@alejandroggo) October 29, 2024
What is Jordi Fernández’s experience in the NBA?
During his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009, Jordi Fernández was key in player development, and came to work with LeBron James y Kyrie Irving as part of Tyronn Lue’s coaching staff that won the ring in 2016.
Then, was hired by Denver Nuggets at the request of Michael Malone and was key to Nikola Jokic being the leader of the championship team, since he worked in the franchise from 2016 to 2022.
Jordi’s first great success was having led the Cleveland Cavaliers affiliate team in the G-League, the Canton Charge, to the semifinals of the Playoffs in 2015 and 2016. On that team he coached Joe Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr., Edy Tavares y Cristiano Felicio.
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