The Brooklyn Nets are moving forward with their offseason to-do list as they have hired former Sacramento Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez to be the head coach of the team moving forward. Now that Fernandez is in place as the head man, it looks like he isn’t wasting time building his staff.
On Apr. 21, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that former Portland Trail Blazers assistant Steve Hetzel would be joining Fernandez’s coaching staff for the same role. While the Nets have not confirmed that Hetzel will indeed be joining the team as an assistant coach, it’s fair to talk about who Hetzel is.
Hetzel began his NBA career in the 2005-06 season as an assistant video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs before becoming the video coordinator for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2006 to 2009. From there, Hetzel spent the following four seasons as a player development coach for the Detroit Pistons (2009-13) before becoming the head coach of the G League’s Canton Charge for the 2013-14 season.
After that, Hetzel was an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets (2014-18) and the Orlando Magic (2018-21) as a member of Steve Clifford’s coaching staff during that time span. Hetzel tried to find his way to a potential head-coaching gig somewhere else by being an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers under head coach Chauncey Billups, starting with the 2021-22 campaign.
Hetzel has spent the past three seasons with the Trail Blazers prior to coming to Brooklyn to be an assistant coach for Fernandez. For those wondering, Hetzel and Fernandez crossed paths during the 2013-14 season when both were on the coaching staff for the Charge as Hetzel was the head coach and Fernandez was an assistant.
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