'Definitely irks him': Cadee reacts to KD vs Cotton incident

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NBL commentator Jason Cadee has given his immediate reaction to the latest confrontation in a growing and heated rivalry between Kendric Davis and Bryce Cotton and pointed something out he believes "definitely irks" the Sydney Kings superstar.

Davis and Cotton came face-to-face in the dying stages of Adelaide's upset win over the Kings at Afterpay Arena on October 11, the second time the pair have been involved in an incident, following on fro game two of the NBL Championship Series earlier this year.

Cadee, who is a former teammate of Davis and was just metres away from the confrontation, said the actions of last season's Championship Series MVP were "unwarranted".

"There's one thing that's really obvious about this, and I'm always mindful about what I say, but KD speaks about Bryce a lot," he said on the latest edition of the Cut to the Jase podcast, which will be released later this week.

"Bryce very rarely speaks about KD.

"It's now at the point where I think that definitely irks him, like it annoys him, and I think the thing is, there is a rivalry there. I think Bryce doesn't acknowledge that, but there is in terms of on the court at the moment.

"But where I think Bryce speaks from, and this is just me guessing, but I think he speaks from, there's no rivalry, I've won three championships, I've won six MVPs. This isn't a rivalry.

"The reaction, the thing for me was, it was unwarranted. There'd been nothing throughout the game, nothing.

"Then all of a sudden, I'm just thinking they're about to dribble it out and KD comes running over and then just pushes him and then it's on and we get what we get."

Cadee said there's no doubt in his mind that the rivalry is personal and agrees with Kings coach Brian Goorjian that it was good for the league.

"(Bryce) has never been the initiator or the instigator," he said on the basketball.com.au podcast.

"So you've got to l'ook at it, it's like anything, when someone's been yapping at you, you're probably eventually going to retaliate in some way.

"Now the thing is, Kendric's not some bloke who's just yapping away, who doesn't play and sits on the bench. He's an elite competitor, he's an elite player and he will be in the MVP conversation once again.

"If you go back to even when I played in Adelaide, it was spoke about out of like a respect level, but it's almost turned into this, and I said in the broadcast, it's actually personal because this has now been three years of someone talking about someone over and over again.

"I feel like it's got to the level, where it's not just, it is about basketball, but it's personal.

"You keep talking about someone as much as you do, how is someone not going to eventually retaliate in some way, shape or form?

"Look, it adds drama to the NBL, which we all love. It adds all types of eyeballs to it.

"I think Brian Goorjian spoke after in his press conference and he said, it's great for the league. We don't all have to be best friends, and I agree with that.

"I think sometimes we are too nice and we get into that space where everyone wants to be happy, go lucky. But there's an element of these kind of storylines create, not engagement, but it creates people's interests."

Davis and Cotton will face each other once again at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on December 13.

BRYCE COTTON VS KENDRIC DAVIS RIVALRY QUOTE TIMELINE

Bryce Cotton – October 11, 2026: "Sometimes people got me marked around their calendar," Cotton said seconds after the final buzzer.

"I'm quiet until you got something to say, and everybody knows how I get down.

"I've been doing this for years, and at the end of the day this is Adelaide versus the Kings and, you know, fortunately we came out with the win."

Kendric Davis – October 11, 2026: "Wait to game over and call me out my name then play victim like he always do 😭 King of throwing rocks and hiding his hand😭 Ion fw dude he political genius behind scenes he does a lot of fake shit..I’m me win , lose , or draw See you Dec 13 That trophy in Sydney for now though."

Kendric Davis – October 9, 2026: “You can’t shy away from it because it is out there already - there is no love between me and Bryce - there is no love between me and Adelaide and there is no love from them for us,” Davis said.

“We took their championship and they are struggling right now - so they are going to come in desperate and we have to protect our court.”

Bryce Cotton – September 20, 2026: "It was Adelaide 36ers versus United," Cotton said after the 36ers held off United 97-95 at John Cain Arena in the first game of the season.

"He had a good game. I had a good game as well, but both teams played amazing.

"One thing I'll never do is highlight any individual stuff, but he's a hell of a player, and he showed that tonight.

"Fortunately, we were just able to come out with two extra points than the other team."

Kendric Davis – April 5, 2026: “It’s my time now,” Kendric Davis declared as he accepted the NBL26 Grand Final Series MVP

Kendric Davis – March 29, 2027: "I just love to compete, I think Bryce would say the same thing, I mean I grew up watching him, come on, I just love to compete against greatness, I want to be the future of this league, so it's fun," Davis said in his post-game interview.

Derek Rucker – March 20, 2026: "It's over", according to 1990 NBL MVP and NBL commentator Derek Rucker.

"I think you know Kendric said some things also about he wanted to bust Bryce's ass, I think it was words like that when he was up speaking at the MVP awards night with Kelsey Brown.

"I just think Bryce is not an overly extroverted person but he pays attention, and even though he won six MVPs, he still has a chip on his shoulder and things rile him up, things get him going.

Kendric Davis – February 24, 2026: 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."

Kendric Davis – February 23, 2026: “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.”

Later 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.”