The best player in Australia’s premier basketball league says he doesn’t want to play for the Boomers because of the administrative saga he’s been put through.
American import Bryce Cotton is on track for his fourth NBL MVP award after helping the Perth Wildcats revive their reason after a horror start to the season.
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The Wildcats now sit second on the ladder behind championship favourites Melbourne United and if Cotton continues his red hot form, he could claim his fourth NBL title with Perth.
Cotton has called Australia home for many years now and first applied for Australian citizenship in 2019, but has encountered numerous delays.
Basketball Australia has been urged to do more to expedite Cotton’s citizenship application, given the shooting guard would be a welcome addition to Australia’s national team.
But speaking on The Basketball Show, Cotton said the citizenship process had been so frustrating he wouldn’t want to play for the Boomers, even if he was granted Australian citizenship.
“The process has just been so annoying, and I guess some of the obstacles we dealt with, it’s turned me off,” Cotton said.
“So I don’t really care to play. I still wish them the best, but I have no desire to play for them. Nah I’m good.
“It was just so many obstacles. It just seemed like the old dangling carrot is right there, we’re so close, and then when you think you’re going to turn the corner, it’s another hiccup.
“Dealing with that for years was enough, but still no hard feelings for any of the players, nothing like that. I really wish them the best, but I have no desire to play.”
Boomers legend Shane Heal added: “That’s disappointing as a past Boomer and it sounds like the process wasn’t really embraced by Basketball Australia and them putting their weight behind it and trying to make that happen.”
The Boomers won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in their first ever appearance on the podium, but will face a tough ask to repeat that achievement in Paris up against the USA, Canada, World Cup winners Germany and European teams including Slovenia and Serbia.
Patty Mills scored 42 points in that bronze medal game against Slovenia, but Luka Doncic got revenge on the Boomers as Mills and the Aussies went cold and got knocked out in the group stage at last year’s FIBA World Cup.
Mills is now in the twilight of his career and while Josh Giddey has been handed the reins of the Boomers’ offence, he is a pass-first player.
It’s left the Boomers crying out for a prolific scorer who can single-handedly win a game for Australia if needed.
But they’ll have to win a place on the podium in Paris without Cotton.