After taking over the reins of head coach for Canada from Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse in the summer of 2023, Canada was one of the top three teams at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Even though the nation was without key personnel, including Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray and Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, Canada settled for bronze. Serbia took silver while Germany took home gold.
Canada’s road to bronze was very special. And when Fernandez showed off his expertise in a coaching duel with Steve Kerr, a four-time NBA champion as a head coach, and Team USA in the bronze medal match. The game went down to the wire and needed an overtime period to determine a victor. Down the stretch, Fernandez’s Canada squad executed the best versus the country that has won the most world cups with five as Canada came out on top.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, guard for the first-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder and the Canadian National team, has made it known that he is not worried about anybody that may stand in the way of Canada’s quest to gold at the Olympics. His fellow countryman Murray even confirmed that he wants to play at the Paris Olympics.