TORONTO (June 28, 2023) -- Canada Basketball announced Wednesday that Jordi Fernández has been named head coach of Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team for the upcoming FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 after Nick Nurse recently stepped down from the position.

“On behalf of our program, I’d like to thank Nick for his contributions to our team and wish him and his family well in his new role moving forward,” said Rowan Barrett, General Manager / Executive Vice-President, Senior Men's Program.

“With Jordi, we have found a head coach who has both valuable FIBA and NBA experience and puts our team in a position to win right now,” said Barrett.  “Jordi has developed a tremendous reputation working with some of the best players in the world, and we feel that the culture and connection he will build with our team will set us up for success this summer,” said Barrett.

“Our goals for the upcoming FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup remain unchanged, and we are focused on qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Barrett said.

Fernández recently completed his first season as associate head coach with the Sacramento Kings, where he helped guide the team to a 48-34 record -- their best regular season since 2004-05 -- and returned to the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2006.

“To have the chance to lead Canada this summer at the World Cup is a tremendously exciting opportunity and one I’m extremely grateful for,” Fernández said.  “Not many international programs have the ceiling that this team does, and it is a testament to the hard work and development Canada Basketball, as well as Nick and his staff, have put in over the last several years.”

From 2016-22, Fernández spent the previous six seasons as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets, as the team made four consecutive playoff appearances (2018-19 to 2021-22) and a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2019-20.

He was also head coach of the Canton Charge in the NBA G League for two seasons (2014-16), where he led the team to a 62-38 regular season record, including two appearances in the G League Eastern Conference Finals.

Internationally, Fernández was the lead assistant for the Nigerian men’s national team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.  Originally from Badalona, Spain, he served as an assistant coach for Spain at EuroBasket 2017, where the team captured bronze, and was an assistant at the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Men.  Fernández also coached professionally in Spain with Club Basquet I’Hospitalet.

Both associate head coach Nate Bjorkgren and assistant coach Nathaniel Mitchell will remain members of the Senior Men’s National Team coaching staff.

Nurse previously coached the team at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2019, in 2021 at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria, British Columbia and last summer during the third and fourth windows of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers.

“I have made the difficult decision to step down as head coach of the Senior Men’s National Team for Canada Basketball,” Nurse said. “It has been a tremendous honour and privilege to coach this team.  This is not a decision I made lightly, and after discussing it with my family, I felt it was important to dedicate my time and energy to the new opportunity I have as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.”

“I will support the transition however I can and truly appreciate the support and understanding from everyone at Canada Basketball,” said Nurse. “I am forever grateful to Canada Basketball and the amazing players, staff, and fans for embracing me and my family.”

The Senior Men’s National Team will gather in Toronto for training camp in early August to begin World Cup preparations before departing for Europe for exhibition games in both Germany and Spain.

The FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023, set to take place from August 25 to September 10, will feature the best 32 men’s teams.  The Group Phase will take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, with the Final Phase to follow in the Philippines capital city of Manila.