VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France – For new Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernández, he is focused on being Canadian tonight at the Olympics rather than from his native Catalonia and Spain.

Fernández is a native of Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeastern Spain with its own language and cultural identity. Catalonia has had a pro-independence movement from Spain that perhaps now is losing momentum. The new Brooklyn Nets head coach is also a former assistant coach for the Spanish men’s basketball national team under its head coach Sergio Scariolo. But tonight, Fernández will be coaching the Canadian men’s national team against his native Spain in Olympics preliminary action.

“Spain obviously is a country that I grew up in,” Fernández recently told Andscape. “Obviously, there’s a lot of controversy with Catalonia in Spain. It’s more of a political thing. I have a lot of respect. I’m Catalan myself. It’s where I grew up. That’s the language I speak, but I love the country. As a country, we have our own identity, but at the same time I’ve worked with Spanish national team. I have a lot of respect for the coaches and players, the program.

“So, for me, it’s just business. I’m not Catalan. I’m not Spanish. I’m Canadian. Putting all that aside, I’m going to go there to support my team, my program, and we’re going to try to do what’s best for us.”

Fernández has been the head coach of Canada since last year and led the country to its first ever bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Championships. Under Fernández, Canada enters tonight’s game against Spain with a 2-0 record and has qualified for the knockout stage that begins in Paris next week. The 41-year-old also coached in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as an assistant with the Nigerian men’s national team and for Spain as an assistant from 2017-19.

Fernández was hired as the head coach of the Nets on April 22. He spent the previous two seasons as an associate head coach for the Sacramento Kings under Mike Brown. Fernández was also an assistant coach under Michael Malone with the Denver Nuggets from 2016 to 2022. His arrival to the NBA began when he was a player development coach under Brown with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2009 to 2013. He also served as an assistant for the G League Canton Charge for a season before serving as their head coach for two seasons.

The following is a recent Q&A with Fernandez with Andscape in which he talks about coaching a Canadian team rich with NBA players, his beloved ties to Spain and Catalonia on and off the court, preparing to coach the rebuilding Nets from afar, the Mikal Bridges trade to the New York Knicks, his time coaching under Brown and Malone and much more.

What was the basketball culture like in Catalonia for you growing up?

We had one of the best programs in the country. We developed a lot of very good players. [Former NBA guard] Ricky Rubio was developed there. [Former NBA guard] Raul Lopez, we developed. You can go on and on and on. Not just [Spain], ACB players and EuroLeague players, but also NBA players. Same as very good coaches. And it was great to be part of it, come out of that region.

And for us, we define it as our own nation and you are just proud of it. Other than that, I’ve always stayed away from politics, respected everybody, have your own opinions and that’s it. Love yours. Respect everybody else. That’s how I go about it.

Catalonia is known for its food, art, architecture, music, beaches, wealth and having its own language. What do you love most about Catalonia?

Obviously, our language. That is the language I speak to my kids. Speak with my parents. The cuisine. Just being there in an area that’s got mountains, coast, just beautiful, beautiful land. And obviously with your friends and family, your heart always goes back home. So, it’s very special for me and will always be.

We try to go every summer. This summer, unfortunately it looks like we’re not going to.

Do you believe that coaching Canada as it qualified for the Olympics led to you getting the Nets job?

I think so. Everybody says that they value the G League experience, which I think was amazing. And for me it was a big part of why I kept developing. But coaching Canada and qualifying for the Olympics, it was the last push to be a head coach in the NBA and I’ll always be thankful for the opportunity. But also thankful for these guys, how hard they play. They are the ones that qualified. They are the ones that got a medal, so I obviously benefitted from it.

What was the key for you landing the job with Canada?

I think my FIBA background and my NBA experience, so it was a mix of both.

When the Nets gave you the job, how did they feel about you coaching Canada in the Olympics this summer?

They were always super supportive. They knew how important it is. They knew how good our players are, so I think it was a win-win at that time. [Nets governor] Joe Tsai was super supportive, [Nets general manager] Sean [Marks] and his family and his group as well. So, I’m very, very thankful for that.

So how do you keep up with everything with the Nets while coaching in the Olympics?

I can watch all the [summer league] practice on film. I’m in touch with the coaches every day, especially with Steve Hetzel, who is the one running the [summer] team. Juwan [Howard] and Jay [Hernandez] are running the other roster guys. So, we have a pretty good structure right now… We’re in a very good place and everything looks good.

Is it kind of a bittersweet situation because with coaching Canada in the Olympics while being delayed in taking part fully in your new job in Brooklyn?

It’s good because [coaching Canada in the Olympics] is six weeks. Whatever has to be taken care of with Brooklyn, the summer league and the workouts are good. We’ve been working for eight weeks, really hard. I’ve been in every single one of those weeks. And after summer league, there will be a little bit downtime. I’ll go to the Olympics and then after that I’ll be back August back to Brooklyn. So, I don’t think I’m missing anything. I really trust the group that we put together there and I know those guys are getting better without me being part of it.

I’ve been calling and texting the [Nets] players. I talked to Dennis [Smith Jr.]. Talked to the young guys. I talked to [Trendon] Watford. We just we got him back on the team, which we were very happy about. It takes time to build relationships, but they’ve been responsive and they’ve been awesome.

When you took the job in Brooklyn, forward Mikal Bridges was viewed as the star of the team. But on the eve of the 2024 NBA draft, the Nets traded Bridges to the crosstown rival New York Knicks for Bojan Bogdanovic, Mamadi Diakite, Shake Milton and four unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick and a second-round selection. How did you take the Bridges trade?

It was one of the avenues that we’ve had in mind and how we wanted to do things. Obviously, he’s an amazing player and have a lot of respect for him. Every good trade has to be a win-win. And this is one avenue that we were contemplating. I’m very excited because I know that we can build something more special.

How much pride do you have in getting the Nets job after so many years paying your dues? And how many head coaching interviews have you had in the NBA?

So, this was my fifth interview. And all those interviews are very special because you learn from every team, learn from the process, learn about yourself. It just makes you better. It’s not like you are a better coach because you interview, but you get better at interviewing.

I appreciate everybody that gave me the opportunity to do so. But at the end of the day, I’ll always be very thankful to the Nets because they are the first NBA team to believe in me. And if I can coach with Nets for the rest of my NBA career, that’s what I want to do.

What did you learn from Mike Brown and Michael Malone?

They’re the reason why I’m in the NBA. Mike Brown brought me to [the NBA]. Michael Malone took me to Denver from the G League and put me in the front of the bench. I learned from both. I would not be the coach that I am today without them. Along with Sergio Scariolo, they are my my biggest mentors with [Ex-Cavaliers head coach] David Blatt as well. So, I’m pretty thankful for those two in the NBA and what I get to learn from them at the highest level. I will be always very thankful.

How crazy is your coaching journey from Catalonia to the NBA? That is not a normal route.

No, no, obviously it’s not. And everybody’s got a different path. I’m still fairly young, but for me coming here at 26 and be a complete foreigner, you have to learn. It’s not just basketball. The culture, the language. And you see the process, the steps and all the jobs you have to do and where you start. And right now, looking back, it’s just really cool. But for me, at the end of the day, this is just one more step. And I want to be head coach in the NBA for a long time. I’ll be a head coach of a playoff team. I want to be a head coach of a winning team, obviously a championship team.

So, for me is everybody asks about this step, and I always say the early ones were harder because you had nothing. You got no family, you got no money, you didn’t know if you could survive. Right now, the more experience that only you get, it gets easier and easier. But the beginnings are the ones that I really remember in a way. Surviving through the beginning was the key. Right now, it is just keep taking steps forward, keep getting better, keep learning. It’s not getting there. It’s surviving, sustaining, and then get into those next steps.

What are your expectations with Canada in the Olympics?

These guys deserve [being here]. They have the mentality. We believe in ourselves. Obviously, we respect the opponents. We’re young. We don’t have a lot of FIBA experience. But we’re going to face every opponent looking at them in the eyes and believing that we can beat them. But it’s got to be one game at a time.

What is the thirst for Canada to win an Olympic medal in men’s basketball?

The support has been unbelievable and these guys deserve it. The program needs it. All I can say is thanks because we’ve been very supported by the country. And basketball now is one of the fastest growing pro sports in Canada. If you know, we have a lot of talent. So, it’s just cool to be part of something like this. I’ll try to do my best to earn everyone’s respect to coach the team. Hopefully, they have fun watching it. Whether they know more or less about basketball, I just hope that all the Canadians are just proud of this.

Do you have a Canadian passport?

It would be an honor, yeah. Obviously, I’m not doing it for a passport, but I’m doing it to earn everyone’s respect — the players, the program, the fans. And if we can do something special for the country, it is something that I’m going to take in my heart and I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’ve been always a club person and whatever club that I work for I’m going to work really hard with respect to everybody else. But [Canada is] my team right now. It’s not Spain. It’s not any other place.