As a first-time father, Bryce Cotton knew diaper duty was coming once his fourth season in Australia wrapped up.
He just didn’t think it would happen so quickly.
A former NBA and Palo Verde High School product, Cotton recently won his second MVP award with the Perth Wildcats in Australia’s National Basketball League after averaging 22.4 points and 3.7 assists per game. He was preparing for a potential Game 4 of the league’s best-of-five Grand Final last week when the series was called off amidst growing concern over the coronavirus.
Perth and its finals opponent, the Sydney Kings initially agreed to play out the series before ultimately deciding against it. Perth won two of the three games that were played
“It was definitely mentally challenging,” Cotton said. “You had to almost focus on everything except basketball. Going to bed one night and then waking up not knowing whether or not you’re going to have a game the next day or whether the whole series is going to be canceled.”
The cancellation left the NBL in a tough spot in terms of awarding the title. Perth had won five of the seven regular-season and playoff matchups against the Kings, whose roster includes former NBA players Casper Ware and Andrew Bogut. On March 17, the NBL ultimately awarded the championship to Perth. Cotton was named Grand Final MVP after averaging 30 points per game in the finals.
“It felt just as amazing to be acknowledged as the champions,” said Cotton, who has won three titles in Australia. “It was almost like watching Selection Sunday. We were just kind of sitting around waiting to see what the verdict was going to be.”
The NBA suspended play on March 11 following the announcement that Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus. The NBL went on, opting to play the rest of the series in empty arenas. Only essential staff, media and family were allowed to attend.
Cotton said the experience was different, “but at the same time, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.”
Former Palo Verde High School standout Bryce Cotton, dribbling the ball in an exhibition game between the Perth Wildcats and Denver Nuggets in 2018, has now won three Australian National Basketball League MVP awards, and is a six-time scoring champion. In September 2023, Cotton led Perth back to the states for an exhibition series in Henderson, Nevada, against the NBA G League Ignite.
“It reminded me of being younger in like the fifth or sixth grade. You’re playing in a gym and there’s nobody there except the parents and the kids. You can hear all the voices, versus when you’re in a packed arena and it’s loud, but the noise is a blur,” he said. “When it’s maybe 60 or 70 people, you can actually hear everything that everybody is saying. Coaches, plays, little things like that. It just kind of brought back memories for me.”
Cotton’s basketball future, like that of so many players in America and overseas, is up in the air. Cotton applied for Australian citizenship last summer with hopes of playing for the country in the now-delayed Tokyo Olympics, but that’s in flux, too.
“I haven’t heard anything new about my citizenship,” Cotton said. “I know that usually it takes 10 to 11 months once all the paperwork is filled. I had done everything I needed to do last summer, so it’s just under the review process. But I think considering all this stuff that’s going on, they have bigger priorities to worry about for the time being.”
Cotton typically spends part of his offseason in the United States, where he typically spends time in Tucson and Providence, Rhode Island, where he went to college.
He will remain in Australia for now because of the country’s international travel ban. It’s a feeling made even worse considering only Cotton’s mother has met his newborn daughter, Kyra.
“Within the next few weeks it’ll probably start to set in that I can’t head back,” he said.
The cancellation of the NBL season is giving Cotton some quality time with his partner, Rachel, and their daughter, something he is fully embracing.
“Just knowing I get to be here literally sunup to sundown is cool,” he said. “It’s really a joy. Obviously we don’t leave the house much other than maybe a quick walk around the neighborhood, but I’ve been enjoying it. This is around the time where she is starting to get more and more of a personality. It’s like the perfect time to be a full-time dad.”
As for diaper duty? Cotton isn’t quite the MVP of that just yet.
“I leave the dirty work to Rachel,” he laughed. “In time.”
