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Suns HC Jordan Ott adds 11-year NBA veteran to coaching staff

Originally posted on Burn City Sports
By Tanner Tortorella | Last updated Aug 10, 2025 9:38 PM ET

Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott continues to add to his coaching staff with 11-year NBA veteran Mike Muscala. The 34-year-old center played with seven teams over his decade-long career, last playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder at the end of the 2023-2024 season. This will be Muscala’s first coaching job, as Ott continues to add NBA veterans to his staff.

Suns Ott continues to build his staff:

Known assistants for next season:

DeMarre Carroll
Jesse Mermuys
Brian Randle
John Little
Chaisson Allen
Mike Muscala

Muscala is the second 10+ year veteran to join Ott’s staff, the other being Carroll. It seems the new Suns coach is striving to build a relationship between his staff and the players via a shared NBA experience. Building a relationship amongst coaches and players become easier with a staff filled with assistants who played at their level.

Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported that the franchise is also adding another ex-NBA player in Mateen Cleaves as a player development, following the footsteps of Carroll and Muscala. Ott is building a staff that is mixed with NBA coaching experience, like with Mermuys, and veterans to build a nice balance in perspectives for the first-time head coach.

This article first appeared on Burn City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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