Phoenix Suns

Hardaway adds ex-Suns assistant Toppert to Memphis' staff

Published Jun. 10, 2019 6:43 p.m. ET

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis coach Penny Hardaway has added more NBA experience to his staff by hiring former Phoenix Suns assistant Cody Toppert.

Toppert spent the 2018-19 season as an assistant coach and director of player development on a Suns staff headed by Igor Kokoskov. The staff was fired at the end of the season.

Toppert will be an assistant coach at Memphis. He replaces Sam Mitchell, a former NBA coach who left Memphis' staff after the 2018-19 season to pursue a business opportunity. Hardaway and Memphis assistant Mike Miller are former NBA players.

Before joining the Suns' staff, Toppert spent three seasons coaching in the NBA G League. He was an assistant with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers from 2015-17 and head coach of the Northern Arizona Suns in 2017-18.

Toppert was a four-year starter at Cornell from 2001-05.