A winning journey from Spain to Brooklyn

Jordi Fernandez kept the game ball from his first NBA win, which he said will be a reminder of where he came from and where he hopes his career will lead.

"I'm going to put it in my office," Fernandez said, "because my wife does a great job decorating the house and she doesn't want my basketball stuff there."

The rookie head coach earned the victory in his third game in charge, when the Brooklyn Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-102 on Sunday. Fernandez, a native of Badalona, Spain, said his wife and kids were at the game, along with his parents, friends and extended family.

The celebration was the culmination of a 15-year journey that started when Fernandez left Spain at 26. He began coaching in his teens and, after arriving in the United States, worked his way up from head coach of the Canton Charge in the NBA G League to become an assistant on playoff teams in Denver and Sacramento, before getting his first chance to run his own NBA team last spring.

"It's very special to come all the way from starting at the bottom in the NBA, and working really hard to move up. There have been some good moments, some tough moments, different teams, friends, memories," Fernandez said. "And it's really cool, now you look back, and you have to enjoy this moment because there's only one time that you're a head coach and win a (first) game.

"On the other hand, I also feel like, what's the next step? And we've got to move on to the next thing, and I want to be in this league, I want to be with this club for a long time."

Fernandez deflected the credit toward his players, who treated him to a postgame celebration that Fernandez said was fun and wet.

"I mean, a guy from Europe, from Spain, being a head coach in the NBA, that's big time," said Nets guard Dennis Schroder, who is German.

Fernandez coached Canada's Olympic team this summer, after leading the Canadians to their first men's basketball medal in 2023, a bronze at the World Cup. He was an assistant with Nigeria's Olympic team at the previous Olympics.

Now, he has his own club in Brooklyn and, after Sunday, a new basketball.

"It represents a moment in my life," Fernandez said, "and you look at it, and it's the beginning of something special."

Agencies via Xinhua