PERTH Wildcats superstar Bryce Cotton has secured his fifth National Basketball League (NBL) Andrew Gaze Trophy for the Most Valuable Player in just nine seasons, claiming the top gong at the competition’s award ceremony on Monday night.

The import guard has now won the award in 2018, 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025, totalling the second-most MVP awards in competition history, trailing only Gaze himself, who has seven. It also marks the second consecutive year Cotton has been named the best player of the season, showing how dominant he has been throughout the past decade.

Cotton’s scoring has been unmatched this season, reaching new heights with a career-high average of 28.6 points per game. The most impressive facet of his campaign was his ceiling, pouring in 40+ points on six occasions, a feat only achieved by Gaze as well.

Cotton and the Wildcats will begin their postseason campaign tonight when they take on the SEM Phoenix at Perth HBC, looking to book a spot in the semi-final and lock in third spot in a clash that kicks off the play-in.

Having led his Illawarra Hawks to top spot, Justin Tatum took home the Lindsay Gaze Award for best coach, a deserved feat given the team secured first position in the standings for the first time in club history.

It was back to back NBL Best Defensive Player Awards for Shea Ili, who continued his career as the premier shutdown player of the competition. He consistently takes the toughest defensive assignment for Melbourne United and played a key role in getting the team to second spot.

The Sydney Kings had a successful night too, with Kouat Noi taking home the NBL’s Best Sixth Man honour, while Alex Toohey was named young player of the season and took out the Next Generation Award.

Noi has been a serious weapon for the Kings this season, providing a scoring option off the bench and taking his impressive shooting abilities to the next level with several matches where he led Sydney to victory.

Toohey has given his NBA Draft stock a massive boost throughout the 2024/25 season, and was a deserving recipient of his award. The forward’s balance of scoring, rebounding, playmaking and defending has shown NBA sides that he has plenty of value at the top level, and was a key cog in Sydney’s lineup, starting for most of the season.

The development of Tyrell Harrison was flagged in the Blitz pre-season tournament, and the big man translated that to the home and away fixture, emerging as a star for the Brisbane Bullets, snagging the Most Improved Player award in the process. He took his averages from 9.6 points and 6.2 rebounds to 14.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game in a terrific boost.

Andrew Gaze Trophy for Most Valuable Player
Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)  – 119 votes
Kendric Davis (Adelaide 36ers) – 82 votes
Matt Hurt (South East Melbourne Phoenix) 65 votes

Lindsay Gaze Trophy for Coach of the Year
Justin Tatum (Illawarra Hawks)  – 78 votes
Josh King (South East Melbourne Phoenix) – 39 votes
Dean Vickerman (Melbourne United)  – 29 votes

Most Improved Player
Tyrell Harrison (Brisbane Bullets)  – 37 votes
Owen Foxwell (South East Melbourne Phoenix)  – 32 votes
Ben Henshall (Perth Wildcats)  – 30 votes

Best Sixth Man
Kouat Noi (Sydney Kings)  – 69 votes
Ian Clark (Melbourne United)  – 39 votes
William Hickey (Illawarra Hawks)  37 votes

Damian Martin Trophy for the Best Defensive Player
Shea Ili (Melbourne United)  – 63 votes
Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (Illawarra Hawks)  – 34 votes
Will Magnay (Tasmania JackJumpers)  26 votes

Next Generation Award presented by Champion
Alex Toohey (Sydney Kings)  – 46 votes
Ben Henshall (Perth Wildcats)  – 40 votes
Taran Armstrong (Cairns Taipans)  – 38 votes

All-NBL First Team
Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats) – 54 votes
Kendric Davis (Adelaide 36ers)  – 52 votes
Matt Hurt (South East Melbourne Phoenix)  – 53 votes
Trey Kell III (Illawarra Hawks)  47 votes
Tyler Harvey (Illawarra Hawks)  – 38 votes

All-NBL Second Team
Casey Prather (Brisbane Bullets)  – 37 votes
Chris Goulding (Melbourne United)  – 36 votes
Montrezl Harrell (Adelaide 36ers)  – 28 votes
Sam Froling (Illawarra Hawks)  – 19 votes
Xavier Cooks (Sydney Kings) – 26 votes