Kings' Fernández Dominating with Team Canada in 2023 FIBA World Cup

Fans of the Sacramento Kings have lots of recent success to be happy about. From the revival of the franchise to making NBA history with the most efficient offense of all time, much of this success is due to head coach Mike Brown.

While Brown's coaching impact feels like a sip from the fountain of youth to Kings fans, an aspect substantially overlooked is associate head coach Jordi Fernández's imprint.

Fernández is in charge of the immensely talented Canadian men's basketball team, who took down a talented French squad in the opening game of the FIBA World Cup and dominated Lebanon on Sunday with a crushing 73-128 victory.

Fernández has been drawing praise from many sources, such as NBA Championship-winning Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone. Jordi spent the first six years of his career in Denver and is now entering his second with Sacramento. Fernández will likely be an NBA head coach after this season.

You can see his capabilities very clearly in the Team Canada victories. While Team Canada was undoubtedly the more skilled and clear favorite over Lebanon, the statistics show how much of an impact Fernández has on the players. Canada shot 50-70 (71.4%) from the field today, added with an even more impressive 44 assists on 50 makes. This elite combination of ball movement and efficiency shows how Fernandez has translated some of Sacramento's offensive success to the national stage.

4️⃣4️⃣ assists 🤑

Canada set the record for most assists in a single game at the FIBA Basketball World Cup since data was officially recorded from 1994.#FIBAWC x #WinForCanada 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/PdYYk6uHut
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) August 27, 2023

Also standing out is how the scoring was distributed among players. With 11 guys appearing on the floor today, nine had over ten points, and over five players had over five assists. Everything was evenly spread compared to usual NBA games, where having a single player dominate with 40 points, with others taking the back seat is a common occurrence.

Some of these numbers are due to the adjusted FIBA rules, which differ defensively from the NBA's. However, a 55-point statement win in one of the world's largest international tournaments speaks to Fernández's coaching talent.

While Fernández is a massive factor in the Kings' proficiency, this upcoming year could be his last season as an assistant. His stellar performance in the NBA and internationally has generated interest in becoming a head coach of another franchise, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst. Therefore, fans might need to brace themselves for the inevitable departure of a young and promising coach in the coming years.

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