Two NBA Coaches' 20-Year Friendship Now Leads Two NYC Teams

The coach of the New York Knicks will face off against the Brooklyn Nets coach on Wednesday, but before the game, they'll probably share a hug and a laugh about how far they've come together.

Mike Brown first met Jordi Fernandez in 2009 at a basketball academy in Las Vegas. Brown, then coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers, was so impressed that he arranged for the young Spanish coach to move to Ohio for an internship.

Brown didn't just offer Fernandez a job. He gave him a car, a gas card, paid for his room, and hired him to train his teenage son Elijah.

"I ate pretty much every meal at the practice facility," Fernandez remembers. "It was a once in a lifetime experience."

Fernandez started making $35,000 as a player development assistant. The money was tight, but the opportunity was priceless as he learned alongside players like Kyrie Irving and developed the coaching skills that would define his career.

The relationship hit a rough patch in 2013 when Brown returned to Cleveland but didn't hire Fernandez for his staff. Instead, Fernandez was offered an assistant job with the Canton Charge in the G-League, which felt like a step backward.

He had just started dating his now-wife Kelsey, and suddenly he had to explain he'd be coaching an hour away in Canton, not with the Cavs. But that difficult moment became transformational.

"I had no distractions, and we were running the team in an NBA style system," Fernandez said. "That was when I started to believe I could eventually be a head coach in the NBA."

Why This Inspires

What makes this story special isn't just that two coaches made it to the top of their profession. It's that the tough moments mattered as much as the easy ones.

Brown gave Fernandez opportunities, but he also made hard decisions that pushed his protege to grow. Fernandez faced setbacks that could have ended the friendship, but instead used them as fuel.

After six seasons with the Denver Nuggets, Fernandez rejoined Brown in Sacramento in 2022. Brown won Coach of the Year, and Fernandez's reputation soared.

Now they're both leading NBA teams in the biggest media market in the country. Brown faces championship expectations with the Knicks while Fernandez builds a young Nets team for the future.

"To be able to see him sitting in that seat in Brooklyn while I'm in New York," Brown said, "it's surreal."

Their story proves that the best mentorships aren't just about opening doors, but about preparing someone to walk through them on their own.