After turning into the primary Spanish and Catalan head coach in NBA historical past this season, Jordi Fernandez of the Nets was honored by his hometown this week and given a replica of the well-known Venus of Badalona.
Xavier García Albiol, the mayor of Badalona, Spain, traveled to Barclays Middle together with his workforce and offered a reproduction of the Roman marble sculpture to Fernandez and his household in particular person. The 41-year-old, who turned the fifth particular person ever to be honored on this method, was additionally given a particular necklace reserved for “Badalona’s favorite son”.
Fernandez needed to journey residence for a deliberate tribute, however his skilled obligations made it unimaginable for him to take action within the coming months. Albiol mentioned Fernandez all the time has Badalona “on his lips” and “in his heart”.
“They gave me an award that only five people [have gotten] have in my hometown and it’s probably a city with a lot of years right, very old city, and being one of five is an extreme honor,” Fernandez mentioned. “We’ve had an excellent completed swimmer with extra gold medals within the Olympics than anyone else, singer, an actor and one of many first mayors within the metropolis, and to get this award means the world to me, simply to characterize my metropolis, and never only for me, but in addition my mother and father. They nonetheless dwell in Badalona, my mates.
“And being the basketball town that it is and me starting to play basketball there, starting coaching basketball there. All the great players that came from that city or that they were developed there. Like Raul Lopez played there, Ricky Rubio played there, Rudy Fernandez played there. So being part of a city that creates all these basketball players and coaches. It’s pretty cool. And everything I can do to represent and now that I’m honored this way, means a lot to me by my city.”
SIMMONS, FINNEY-SMITH MISS BOSTON REMATCH
Ben Simmons (left calf tightness) and Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain) missed Wednesday’s sport in opposition to the Boston Celtics at Barclays Middle. Each performed within the Nets’ additional time loss to Boston at TD Backyard final week.
Fernandez mentioned Finney-Smith’s ankle harm is just not believed to be severe, and that he needs the veteran ahead to be at “200 percent” earlier than returning to the court docket. Simmons’ calf harm can be mentioned to be minor, however he did bear an MRI not too long ago to find out its severity. The Nets are nonetheless awaiting the outcomes of Simmons’ examination, and he’s thought-about day-to-day. With Finney-Smith out, Ziaire Williams acquired his second straight begin in opposition to Boston.
“Zaire did a great job when he had the chance to start,” Fernandez mentioned. “And clearly, if all of us do our numbers, we’re going to want different guys to step up and play minutes. And that’s the thrilling half to see who’s going to step up. Who’s going to provide us the additional that we’d like and collectively be able to stress the ball, give a whole lot of effort, area the ground, reduce, run… The fellows are excited and like we’ve all the time accomplished, subsequent man up and simply be able to struggle.”
BOGDANOVIĆ’S TIMELINE STILL UNCLEAR
Bojan Bogdanović, who continues to recuperate from offseason foot surgical procedure, has not appeared in a sport for Brooklyn this season and his timeline to return to the court docket stays murky.
“I noticed him on the court docket taking pictures at present,” Fernandez mentioned. “But if you mean playing five-on-five and playing in a real game, he’s progressing well. We’re not going to give an exact date, but he’s doing good. He’s in good spirits, he had a good week, he was with us on the road. Having him around is very important because he’s a veteran and he’ll talk in huddles; he gives the guys all these tips on what to do during the games and his involvement is very important. To me, that means that he’s working, he cares, and whenever he’s physically ready he’ll be good for us.”
