Jordi Fernandez was Mike Brown’s assistant head coach in Sacramento for two seasons before leaving for Brooklyn.

SACRAMENTO (AP) – More than a decade ago, Mike Brown – then the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers – saw a young intern named Jordi Fernandez working with his son Elijah at a basketball training program in Las Vegas. As he sat back and watched, Brown was impressed with the way Fernandez trained his son.

He noticed Fernandez’s patience and ability to make his son feel involved and take ownership of his training, while also learning new things himself. Brown eventually hired Fernandez as a player development coach in 2009, starting the job for Fernandez that currently has him in his first year as coach of the Brooklyn Nets.

The mentor faced the mentee for the first time on Sunday in Sacramento, when Fernandez’s Nets stopped the Brown-led Kings 108-103. Fernandez spent the past two seasons as Brown’s head coach, helping the Kings to a 94-70 record and a playoff berth for the first time in 16 seasons in 2023.

“He is a mentor, but he is more than that. He is like family to me,” Fernandez said before the game. “Without him I wouldn’t be in this position. And life is one big circle, right? He’s the one who brought me here, and years later we were back together.

Fernandez said Brown taught him how to deal with people and how to handle a stressful job by focusing on what he believes is best for the team.

“This is so hard dealing with wins and losses, but it’s so emotional when you work for someone. That’s what I learned the most, the way he treated people,” Fernandez said.

Brown believes the 41-year-old Fernandez is the perfect fit to lead a young, redeveloping Nets team that entered Sunday with a 6-10 record.

“Going through that process – if that’s what they do – can be a lot of ups and downs, and so you need a guy who is steadfast and has good relationships with everyone, keep the spirits up,” Brown said. .

Fernandez coached the Cavaliers’ G-League team, the Canton Charge, for a few seasons and spent six seasons as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets before moving to Sacramento in 2022. Fernandez, born and raised in Spain, too coaches the Canadian men’s national teamwhich led him to a bronze medal at the Basketball World Cup last year.

Just over a month into his freshman season, Fernandez gets buy-in of its players, which is essential for a franchise trying to find its identity under a new coach.

“He makes them play very, very, very hard,” Brown said. “They’re doing good things on both sides of the ball. But I can only imagine the success he will have, especially once they figure out which direction they want to go or not.”

Niceties aside, once their teams took the field, both Brown and Fernandez expected their competitive nature.

“I just want to kick his ass and then give him a hug.” Brown said lightly.

Fernandez replied: “That’s great. I accept the hug. I won’t take the first part. We will certainly try to do the same.”