McGee vs Cotton: NBL26 Performances Tracker

• ‍Case Closed: McGee already the best player in the league‍
• Bryce Cotton's drive for five makes history‍
• 'Let's get ready to rumble!': The Return of the King to Perth

At some stage I'm going to have to admit I was wrong declaring JaVale McGee as the best player in the league after his 32-point, 13-rebound and three blocks in just 30 minutes in his first game of NBL.

Today is the day.

Bryce Cotton has had the better season.

I was always on the back foot after the Hawks struggled to win games early in the season without William "Davo" Hickey and Illawarra without a legitimate point guard running the show.

Underestimating Cotton with a point to prove at the 36ers, the controversy of his exit from Perth and subsequent switch to Adelaide was always going to be a motivation for the five-time MVP.

His numbers have been decent to really good even as the the 36ers slumped in January.

But McGee needs the delivered for him to be effective and getting benched in the Hawks road loss to New Zealand Breakers on Saturday, February 7, 2026 (Round 20) just wouldn't happen to Cotton.

Edge: Cotton.

Me: D'oh.

Bryce Cotton — NBL26 Season Averages (26 games)

• ‍Games: 29 │ Minutes: 37.9 │ Points:24.7 │ FG:7.8–18.1 (43.1%) │ 3PT:3.0–7.9 (36.2%) │ FT:6.1–6.8 (87.8%) │ Rebounds:3.6 (0.5 OR, 3.1 DR) │ Assists:7.4 │ Turnovers:2.9 │ Steals:1.8 │ Blocks:0.2 │ Plus/Minus:+6.4 │ Efficiency:25.5

JaVale McGee — NBL26 Season Averages (25 games)

• ‍Games: 29 │ Points:19.3 │ Minutes: 27.9 │ FG: 7.9–13.9 (58.3%) │ 3PT: 0.2–0.8 (12.1%) │ FT: 3.4–4.5 (73.1%) │ Rebounds:9.9 (3.1 OR, 6.8 DR) │ Assists: 2.0 │ Turnovers: 2.5 │ Steals: 0.9 │ Blocks: 1.8 │ Plus/Minus: –5.0 │ Efficiency:26.2

Bryce Cotton Individual Box Scores

JaVale McGee Individual Box Scores