Former Wildcat Greg Hire has praised Bryce Cotton for his contributions to the Wildcats, following the news of his departure from the Perth-based club.
Cotton confirmed his decision on Instagram on Tuesday morning, stating he would be moving on after nine years of service to the club, but his next move is uncertain.
At the moment, the 32-year-old is playing for Mets de Guaynabo in Puerto Rico, with speculation that his next move may be to Japan to reunite with former coach Trevor Gleeson at the Chiba Jets.
In Cotton’s nine years of service to the Wildcats, he quickly became one of the league’s greatest players with five league MVPs, eight All-NBL First Team selections and three NBL titles – two of which he won Grand Final MVP.
Going down as one of NBL players and Wildcats of all time, Hire says Cotton’s on-court impact expanded across Australia.
“He’s a once-in-a-generational talent. I think you can argue that Bryce has had a greater impact across the whole National Basketball League. I think he had admirers across the league. The resurgence of the National Basketball League has no doubt coincided with players like Bryce’s calibre,” he told SportFM.
“Those moments, it’s funny how the world works. A bombing in Turkey makes him or forces him out of the country. We’re required to get an import, and he had no ambition to extend his stay past the Wildcats.
“I remember in the offseason, sitting, watching under 18, under 16 national champs with Trevor Gleeson, and he said ‘Potentially, we might be able to get Bryce’ and my heart stopped, and I thought ‘Mate, we need to do everything in our power to bring him back.’
“Now, nine seasons later, he’s met his wife, Rachel, they’ve got a beautiful daughter and then countless records along the way. Look at this past year. What a freak. Not only was he played the best basketball he’s ever played, but I think he captured the whole league, not just here, but abroad.”
“It’s unfortunate that that now led him to greater opportunities financially or maybe even potentially playing.”
In his nine years at the Wildcats, Cotton and Hire crossed paths between 2017 and 2019 and won two titles together during that time.
Cotton arrived in 2017 and has gone on to play 258 games throughout his NBL career and averaged 23.1 points per game.
But his final season with Perth was one for the history books. He had six 40-plus point hauls, which led to him securing the NBL scoring championship four the eighth time, but his fifth season MVP.
Hire says despite all the accolades and his abundance of talent, he remained humble and selfless throughout his playing days at the Wildcats.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play alongside a lot of fantastic players,” he said.
“Imports generally don’t have that connection to Australian sports culture, not saying he fully ingrained in there. But in terms of general larrikin banter, he would get himself involved in there.
“He was even at a nice point where, during my tenure with the Wildcats, you had this transition piece where there was a lot of elder statesmen, Jesse, myself, Shawn Redhage, Damo. He had a nice little conjure between the younger group, and he could bridge that gap.
“He was an unbelievable worker, but his values, I think, is something that doesn’t really get reflected on. If you asked me of my finest moment of Bryce, it was when I finished my last game, he was the first guy to come up to me and that meant a lot.
“Even now, Bryce and I talk often. But like, I would have no inclination of we’ve moved on in our lives. He’s incredibly humble, incredibly gracious. He’ll do anything for anyone.
“For a guy of his calibre and his level of play, you wouldn’t argue that he doesn’t need to do that. But that’s not something that’s sometimes a priority area for basketball players or athletes, and he certainly has removed himself from that category. “
In the Wildcats’ history, eight jerseys have been retired, with former captain Damien Martin’s being the most recent one to have been hung in the rafters at RAC Arena.
Mike Ellis, James Crawford, Scott Fenton, Ricky Grace, Andrew Vlahov, Scott Fisher and Shawn Redhage are among the other Wildcats greats to have been immortalised, with Hire believing Cotton’s iconic number 11 should be among them.
“In a weird way, I truly hope and believe that in three years time… I think he’ll come back and live here. It’d only be fitting for him to finish up his career,” he said.
“It’s not only a jersey I love, and I know we compare him to Ricky and whatnot, but I hope, potentially, with the Wildcats and getting their own headquarters, they actually even do more so than a jersey and actually have a statue of some nature.
“The impact that he’s had, I think, not only statistically, but if you look at his accolades and what he’s done, four-time NBL MVP, multiple championships.
“I said to my son this morning, ‘Hey, Bryce isn’t playing,’ and I wish I’d recorded it because he had tears in his eyes, and he’s like, ‘What do you mean? He’s not playing anymore?’
“I was like, ‘No, we’ll be able to watch him.’ But that’s the impact that he’s had on fans, young and old. If he doesn’t have his jersey retired, I’ll be going up, climbing myself and putting it up there. That would be a complete disrespect, but I would hope that might be even something more appropriate.“
IMAGE: NBL