BarcelonaJordi Fernández (Badalona, 1982) has made history by becoming the first Catalan to coach an NBA team. Thanks to his milestone, the mayor of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, proposed him as the city’s favorite son. In the cradle of basketball, Fernández grew up among baskets in the youth academy and soon discovered his vocation as a coach: at the age of 15 in the junior categories of CB Sant Josep. At 18 he went to Amsterdam to train in sports science while working as a dishwasher. Chance crossed into his life when, at the age of 24, at a summer camp in Las Vegas, he met Mike Brown, coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The relationship with Brown catapulted Fernandez to the NBA. In 2009, he was offered the position of technical specialist in player development at the Cavs, where he coincided with LeBron James. The badaloní also went through the Denver Nuggets and the Sacramento Kings before arriving at the Brooklyn Nets.
On October 24, Fernández made history debuting as head coach in the NBA. He debuted with the Nets. The milestone does not scare him. Neither does becoming Badalona’s favorite sixth child. For Fernández “it means a world” to share honors with Mireia Belmonte or Miguel Poveda. The appointment, however, has been controversial. The city awarded him the honor last Saturday, and proposed to hold a tribute later, when Fernández could attend. Albiol, however, omitted to explain that he, his chief of staff, a deputy mayor and the leader of the PSC in the city council would go to New York to honor him. Despite the complaints of the opposition, who accuse him of paying for a holiday with public money, the mayor has argued that it is a way to “promote Badalona to the whole world”, as he will participate in a report by the Brooklyn Nets dedicated to their coach.
All in all, Jordi Fernández has become the MVP of his city: he is proud to represent Badalona basketball in the NBA, and says he wouldn’t be where he is now if he wasn’t from Badalona.
