Bryce Cotton has been named the regular season MVP (Andre Gaze Trophy) for the NBL Australian League for the 2017-2018 season.  Cotton joined the Perth Wildcats mid-season last year and led them to the Grand Final where he won finals MVP honors with a game-sealing 45-point effort in the deciding third Grand Final game.

Bryce Cotton has been named the NBL’s Most Valuable Player for 2017/18! 🙌 https://t.co/QHKbsR35ut

— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) February 27, 2018

Cotton returned to the Wildcats this year after starting out in the summer league and now has a regular season MVP to go with his finals MVP.

Cotton averaged 19.3 ppg this season and received 117 votes to beat out Demitrius Conger (94 votes) of Illawarra.  Conger’s numbers were very similar to Cotton’s but Cotton’s team will be playing in the playoffs again this year trying to defend their title while Conger will be watching from his couch.  Bryce led the league in threes, three point percentage and total points this season.

The way that the voting works for the regular season MVP is actually very interesting.  Coaches are given 10 points to allocate across either team after each game, with 5 points being the maximum that they can give to one player.  I’d say that’s a pretty fair way to determine the MVP for the league if you ask me.

Here’s Cotton’s acceptance speech after winning the award:

“Over here we emphasise playing for the guy next to you and not worrying about yourself.”

Bryce Cotton’s MVP acceptance speech. 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ADjDT1y0lR

— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) February 27, 2018

Once A Friar, Always A Friar.