'I don't care' but Kendric still smashes MVP voters

• ‍Why Kendric Davis should have won his first MVP‍
• How Bryce Cotton won his sixth MVP award‍
• Bryce Cotton wins his sixth MVP by just TWO VOTES

Kendric Davis, explosive on the floor and equally explosive off it, has taken direct aim at MVP voters after losing out to now six-time winner Bryce Cotton by just two votes at the NBL26 Awards in Melbourne last night (Monday, February 26, 2026).

Davis, 26, garnered 94 to Cotton’s 96 votes submitted by head coaches, captains, and former players such as Andrew Gaze, Derek Rucker, and Michael Cedar, and by journalists including ESPN’s Olgun Uluc and John Casey.

Davis, in what appears to be his hotel room later in the night, took to Instagram Live: “I got John Casey, I love John Casey, but John Casey, ‘Come on bro...’

“Let's see who voted for who, so we know, like, what's going on, like the NBA.

“All I know is you put, you put my stats up against his (Cotton’s) stats and take our faces off and tell the NBA vote on who should win MVP,  I guarantee you I'll come out on top, guaranteed.

"But, you know, how they go — political at his best.

"I don't, I don't really even care, I'm just speaking on it cause I don't, if it ain't spoke on, they gonna sweep it under the rug.

“So you gotta speak on it.”

Today, Davis spoke again about the voting system at the NBL Finals launch.

“I want to have a crack at everybody. I want to see the votes, if I’m being honest,” he said.

“When you give players votes, it can get tricky … but that’s just my opinion. It can go off who likes who, you can’t control that. But that’s how I feel.

“I missed two votes on first team. Humbly speaking, like come on now. Let’s be honest.

“I want to fix the system. I want everything right. We’ve just got to make it public.

"We want to know the votes, why you felt how you felt and just have it out there.

“We want to see the people that vote for certain people that you know shouldn’t win it, but you’re just doing it on purpose.

"That’s all I care about."

Code Sports Basketball’s Michael Randall reported Davis said: “He (Cotton) won a popularity contest.

“They found every reason not to give it (the MVP) to me. It’s all political. I am going to call out some of this sh*t. I want it to be fair.”

It was in stark contrast to now seven-time NBL Coach of the Year Brian Goorjian’s heartfelt interview during the ceremony ... before the award was announced.

“There was a lot of talk about Kendric before he came to us,” Goorjian said.

“I have a very close friend in David Patrick, and he said to me, ‘Coach, if you have an opportunity to get Kendric, go there’.

“We spent some time in Las Vegas together and developed a bond there.

“I can just say to you that I’ve been in this game a long time and never had a better human being. I think that’s more important than basketball.

“Then the basketball – what he’s done for our team and for Sydney basketball and for the NBL – I just think Sydney, you know, I come from America, you’ve got the Lakers, you’ve got the New York Knicks.

“Sydney, if this is going to be a great league, we need that. He brings people into the stadium.

"I walk into the gym every day, look around, and see him, and it just gives me energy and joy.”

The interview had a strange twist as Goorjian congratulated Cotton on his MVP win more than an hour before it was announced.

“So congratulations to the winner tonight, Bryce, but really, really happy for Kendric,” Goorjian said.

The NBL panel featuring Peter Hooley, Damon Lowery and Derek Rucker, a short time later, cleaned up the slip, saying it was about Cotton being the Fan’s MVP.

Davis responded to Goorjian with equal respect a short time later during another ceremony interview.

“It feels good, but I knew who I was from the get-go,” Davis said.

“It just feels good that it’s positive energy around me now. So yeah, I just stay true to who I am, and it’s somebody for everybody. So we was a match made in heaven.”

The scoring point guard, who finished second to Cotton as the league’s leading scorer with 24.4 points per game, jested about his rivalry with Cotton, not just as MVP candidates but on the floor.

“I want to bust his ass every chance I get,” Davis said.

“No, the respect is there. I grew up watching him, to be honest. MVP wasn’t on my goal this year.

“It was just being part of a brotherhood, a family, trying to show that I can win at the highest level. But it feels nice. But yeah, every time I play him, I’m trying to bust his ass.”

Davis was also firmly focused on the impact his veteran teammates Xavier Cook and Matthew Dellavedova had on the Kings' 24-9 campaign.

“Man, I can go on and on,” Davis said.

“This is X’s team. Like I tell everybody, this is X’s team. When we started three and five, the Delly effect came on us – the positivity, uplifting everybody.

“Day in, day out, I learned something new from them too every day.

“I became a better human being from both of them, so they like my big brothers.”

Cotton said he was humbled to win his sixth MVP award, just one short of Andrew Gaze’s record seven.

“It’s amazing, man,” he said.

“I never take any of these awards for granted. We play in one of the best leagues in the world outside the NBA. Going to a new team, a new environment, it’s something I needed.

“My coaching staff, to the front office – GK, Matt Weston, Nick – everybody’s amazing.

“And then my teammates, they know how quiet I am, but once I get comfortable, I open up a little bit.

“We’ve been vibing ever since.

“But honestly, me being in Adelaide, it’s been amazing.

“You take away the basketball, the city fits me and my family’s personalities.

“We don’t really go out much. It’s a laid-back city, and it’s given us everything we needed from a breath of fresh air, meeting new people and just being in a new environment.”