BATON ROUGE – For former LSU player Garrett Temple the 2026-27 NBA season will have a little bit different look and view for him.
For the first time since the 2009-10 season, Temple will not be suiting up as a player as he takes a new role after retirement as an assistant for Coach Dusty May on the Dallas Mavericks bench.
Over the course of 16 seasons, Temple played for 12 NBA teams and played in 793 games, second only to Shaquille O’Neal in games played among former LSU athletes. He played the last three seasons in Toronto after spending two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Temple joins another Baton Rouge native, Darnell Lazare, who is entering his second season as assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies. Lazare was an assistant on the staff of the Pelicans during the 2024-25 season.
Both Temple and Lazare played on the 2006 SEC Champion and NCAA Final Four team for the Tigers.
The Mavericks will open the regular season on Wednesday night at Houston, while Memphis will host the Utah Jazz that same evening.
Five former Tiger stars are on opening day rosters for NBA teams. One of those, Ben Simmons, returning to the league with the Sacramento Kings has been reported out for the season after an Achilles tendon injury in practice earlier in the month.
Naz Reid, a member of LSU’s SEC Championship and NCAA Sweet 16 team in 2019, will being his eighth NBA season with a new team, the Charlotte Hornets. Reid played the last seven seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Reid, in 483 career games, is averaging 11.9 career points and 5.1 rebounds. He averaged 13.6 points a season ago.
Houston, which opens with Dallas, will have Tari Eason back for a fifth season with the Rockets. Eason has played 221 career games over his first four years, with a career average of 10.4 points per game and 6.3 rebounds.
Duop Reath is also with a new team this season as his Exhibit 10 deal with the Phoenix Suns has been converted on the eve of the season to a two-way deal where he will provide frontcourt depth. A two-way contract keeps Reath inside the Suns organization splitting time with the NBA Suns and G League affiliate the Valley Suns. In three seasons with Portland Reath played 146 games and averaged 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds.
Also in a new team location is Trendon Watford, who has joined the New Orleans Pelicans. This will be his fourth NBA team in his sixth season in the league. He has played 270 career games with 7.6 points and 3.6 rebound average in his career.
On Wednesday, the Hornets will travel to Brooklyn for its opener, the Pelicans are at the Smoothie King Center to host the Pacers and Phoenix will open at Portland.