NBA Team Hires Former Lakers Player for Coaching Role at Age 34

NBA Team Hires Former Lakers Player for Coaching Role at Age 34 originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Phoenix Suns arrived at the summer in full reset mode.

After a disappointing 36-46 finish and an 11th-place Western Conference standing last season, the Suns missed the playoffs, moved on from Mike Budenholzer, traded 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant and waived All-NBA guard Bradley Beal.

Management overhauled the sideline as well, hiring Jordan Ott on June 6 as the new head coach to shepherd a roster in flux and build an identity around franchise star Devin Booker.

On Saturday, Ott added a respected voice to his staff by hiring Mike Muscala as an assistant coach, an 11-year NBA veteran who played for seven different franchises, including the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018-2019.

This marks Muscala's first stint at coaching at age 34 after retiring from the NBA on July 13, 2024.

Just In: The Phoenix Suns will add Mike Muscala as an assistant coach, sources told @hoopshype. After 11 NBA seasons with the Hawks, Thunder, 76ers, Wizards, Celtics, Lakers and Pistons, Muscala becomes a coach at 34. Suns new head coach Jordan Ott worked with Muscala in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/yqsiZjEvL2

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) August 9, 2025

Mike Muscala's NBA Career in Review

The 6-foot-10 Bucknell product was drafted No. 44 overall in 2013 and logged 548 regular-season games, averaging 5.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.5 blocks with a career shooting line of 45.1% from the field, 37.3% from three and 83.0% at the line.

Aside from the Lakers, he made stops with the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, and Detroit Pistons after spending his first pro season in Spain following draft night.

Muscala’s professional arc was shaped early in Atlanta, where he spent his first five seasons, breaking into the league as a reliable floor-stretcher off the bench. He later found one of his most productive three-year runs in Oklahoma City (2019-2023), highlighted by a 2020–21 season with a career-high 9.7 points per game and 37.0% from beyond the arc.

What This Hire Means for Jordan Ott and the Phoenix Suns

Ott has been assembling a bench focused on development, cohesion and complementary perspectives.

Phoenix already added assistant Brian Randle and retained Chaisson Allen in July, while also tapping 14-year NBA veteran DeMarre Carroll as an assistant and Summer League head coach; moves Ott framed as building "sweat equity" and a day-to-day environment that emphasizes on-court developmental work.

Ott’s own recent stops include stints alongside Carroll with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Lakers, where both worked as assistants. Adding Muscala to the mix makes sense for several reasons:

1. Familiarity with Jordan Ott and culture fit: Ott previously served as an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets, Lakers and Cavaliers, but his first NBA coaching experience came from 2013-2016 as a video coordinator with the Hawks, right when Muscala was first breaking into the league. Muscala and Ott have familiarity with one another over those three seasons working together as player and coach.
2. Recent-player perspective + positional specialty: Muscala’s recent playing experience and his identity as a modern, shooting big could be particularly useful for developing frontcourt players and implementing spacing principles in practice and on the court. Teams increasingly value assistants who can translate the player perspective to current rosters.
3. Career pivot and fast-track coaching entry: This would be Muscala’s first documented, formal NBA coaching job after retirement. For a 34-year-old ex-player, an early entry onto an NBA staff is a common fast track to a long coaching career, a natural next step for a respected veteran role player.

Looking ahead, the question now becomes how much this revamped coaching staff can achieve after such a down year and mass roster overhaul.

Unfortunately, bookmakers aren't too kind, with ESPN BET listing the Suns' projected win total at just 31.5, the third-lowest of any Western Conference team behind the Utah Jazz (18.5) and New Orleans Pelicans (30.5).

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 9, 2025, where it first appeared.