Mitch Richmond Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Fernandez, Kerr, NBA Europe, Rising Stars, Shumate

February 6th, 2025 at 8:42am CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez is stepping down from his post as head coach of the Canadian senior men’s national basketball team, Sportsnet’s Michael Grange reports.

Fernandez replaced Sixers coach Nick Nurse as Canada’s head coach in 2023 and led the team to a bronze medal in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Canada was knocked out of the Paris Olympic tournament in the quarterfinals.

Fernandez had indicated as recently as last month that he planned to remain Canada’s head coach. When asked about his status, Fernandez replied, “In fairness to Canada Basketball, I want them to make the announcement. And then once they do, I’ll be able to answer all your questions.”

Canada Basketball confirmed the news on Thursday morning, announcing that Fernandez is stepping away to focus on his job with the Nets and to spend more time with his family.

We have more from the around the international basketball world:

With the Warriors finalizing a trade for Jimmy Butler on Wednesday, they had to deal with the consequences as they prepared to face Utah. Coach Steve Kerr had to scrap his gameplan, since Andrew Wiggins and Dennis Schröder are part of the multi-team trade. Kerr suggested that the trade deadline should be pushed to the All-Star break, so that type of uneasy situation might not occur. “I think the league should consider making the trade deadline at the All-Star break just so you don’t have to face these games where guys are getting traded half an hour before a game and you’re trying to process the emotions and trying to win a game,” Kerr said, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “I don’t know if it’s possible.” It should be noted the trade deadline used to occur during the All-Star break and sometimes overshadowed the All-Star festivities, plus trades can happen any time before the deadline.
The NBA plans to create a new league in Europe would have to overcome major obstacles and The Athletic’s Joe Vardon details one of them. Paris, one of the prime spots for an NBA Europe team, might be off-limits because Paris Basketball has exclusive rights for play in both of the major arenas in the city.
Tim Hardaway Sr., Jeremy Lin, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond were named the honorary coaches for the All-Star Rising Stars event, the NBA announced (Twitter link). The quartet all played for the host Warriors. Hardaway, Mullin, and Richmond drafted their seven-player teams for the competition, while Lin will coach a group of G League standouts. The rosters can be found here. The winner of the Rising Stars event on Feb. 14 will compete in a four-team tournament against the NBA All-Star teams two days later.
Former Suns player John Shumate passed away this week at the age of 72, John Gambadoro of 98.7 Phoenix tweets. He was the No. 4 overall pick in the 1974 draft by Phoenix and worked for the Suns organization for 25 years.

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Kobe, Richmond, Kings

March 8th, 2013 at 9:18am CST by Luke Adams

Following their loss last night in Denver, the Clippers added a 15th man to their roster, signing ex-Sixer Maalik Wayns to a 10-day contract. That's the top headline out of the Pacific so far today, but let's check in on a few other stories from the Clips' division rivals….

Warriors sources recognize that the team could use an "explosive offensive player" who can make plays off the dribble, according to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. That's one of the reasons Golden State had interest in Dion Waiters at last year's draft, says Kawakami.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, Kobe Bryant was asked when he'll retire and said it would happen "soon," although he didn't specify exactly how soon, as Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register writes.
Mitch Richmond isn't just hoping to keep the Kings in Sacramento and invest in the franchise. He's also eyeing a possible front-office position, writes Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.
Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis, and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee have the latest details on the Sacramento group's PR effort in its quest to save the Kings.

Sacramento Mayor Reveals Kings Investors

February 28th, 2013 at 8:46pm CST by Luke Adams

8:46pm: According to Mayor Johnson, former Kings star Mitch Richmond is one of the investors who will help with trying to buy the seven percent stake of the team that is currently in bankruptcy (Ken Berger of CBS Sports tweets). He also names Mastrov and Burkle as the other benefactors who are spearheading the city's bid to keep the Kings in Sacramento (Twitter links). Berger clarifies that Mastrov will be a majority investor in the team, while Burkle will help lead the new downtown arena project.

12:07pm: Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson is scheduled to make his State of the City address tonight, and may reveal the identities of the investors he has recruited to make a counter-offer for the Kings, according to Tony Bizjak, Ryan Lillis, and Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee. The so-called "whales" are widely believed to be Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov, though Johnson has yet to confirm those reports.

While the Maloofs reached an exclusive agreement with Chris Hansen's Seattle group that prohibits them from negotiating with anyone else, the Kings majority owners are willing to accept "backup offers" for the franchise, a source tells the Bee. Whether an offer comes from Burkle and Mastrov or from minority owner John Kehriotis, who is said to be putting together a proposal of his own, it "would have to be a backup offer to the definitive agreement" between the Maloofs and the Seattle group, according to the source.

At least one Sacramento city council member, Steve Cohn, is intrigued by the push being made by Kehriotis to secure the necessary funds for an offer, since he wouldn't be seeking a public subsidy for a new arena. While Cohn is skeptical that Kehriotis can assemble all the financing, he notes that it would save Sacramento "a lot of money." Assuming the Burkle/Mastrov bid pursues a public subsidy, city officials have indicated they would provide up to $255MM, the amount provided for a proposed arena last spring, according to the Bee report.

Meanwhile, although one report suggested that Hansen's Seattle group never paid the $30MM non-refundable deposit that was due to the Maloofs by February 1st, Joe Maloof confirmed that the payment was in fact made, according to the Bee.