Former Perth Wildcats star Bryce Cotton is within touching distance of Australian basketball icon Andrew Gaze after winning a historic sixth NBL MVP award.
Cotton was voted as the NBL’s best player for the third year in a row and is now only one behind Gaze, who the MVP award is named after. Now an Adelaide 36er, cotton joined Gaze as the only men to have been named MVP for three consecutive seasons.
The NBL MVP award is voted on by captains and coaches of all 10 clubs. Cotton averaged 25.7 points and 7.6 assists per game, which ranked him as the league’s leader in both categories.
Cotton said his first year in Adelaide had been “amazing”.
“Going to a new team, a new environment, is something I needed,” he said.
“I wanted to take the time to basically sort out my options, and with a little bit of help from my whole team, I was able to take all the time I needed. Luckily, Adelaide came through the blue and I have no complaints, I love where I’m at.
“My teammates, they know how quiet I am, but once I get comfortable, I open up a little bit, and we’ve been vibing ever since.”
Cotton’s consistency and elite skills stood out all season.
He produced a 53-point game against Cairns in October, followed up with 41 points against them in November, scored 36 points against the Wildcats in December and then had 33 points against New Zealand in January and 42 points against them in February.
Cotton left the Wildcats at the end of last season after the club gave him a deadline to sign a new deal. The American wanted to assess his free agency options and there was a widespread belief that he would sign a lucrative deal overseas.
But Cotton stunned everyone by signing with the 36ers and he’s continued to showcase his elite talent and take over games.
He has another two years on his contract at Adelaide, giving him time to catch or surpass Gaze’s record of seven MVP awards.
Cotton beat Sydney’s Kendric Davis for the MVP prize. The Kings guard was outstanding all season, averaging 24.4 points and 6.7 assists. There was widespread debate throughout the NBL about whether Davis had done enough to overtake Cotton in the latter stages of the season.
Sydney Kings coach Brian Goorjian won the Lindsay Gaze Coach of the Year, South East Melbourne Phoenix’s John Brown III was Defensive Player of the Year after his teammate Angus Glover received Best Sixth Man and Cotton’s fellow 36er Flynn Cameron was named Most Improved. New Zealand Breakers centre Sam Mennenga won the Next Generation Award.
Perth Wildcats star Kristian Doolittle was in the All-NBL First Team alongside Cotton, Davis, Brown and Nathan Sobey (South East Melbourne), while The All-NBL Second Team was made up of Jack McVeigh (Cairns), Parker Jackson-Cartwright (New Zealand), Xavier Cooks (Sydney), Bryce Hamilton (Tasmania) and Zylan Cheatham (Adelaide).
