Bryce Cotton

Bryce Jiron Cotton (born August 11, 1992) is an American-Australian professional basketball player for the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). As a member of the Perth Wildcats between 2017 and 2025, he won three NBL championships and five NBL Most Valuable Player Awards. In 2026, he won his sixth NBL MVP as a member of the 36ers. He is also a two-time NBL Grand Final MVP, nine-time All-NBL First Team recipient, and has collected nine NBL scoring titles.

Cotton played college basketball for four seasons with the Providence Friars, where he was a two-time first-team All-Big East honoree in 2013 and 2014. After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, Cotton had a number of short stints in the NBA over his first two professional seasons, playing for the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies. He also played in the NBA Development League, China, Turkey and Italy between 2014 and 2018.

Cotton arrived in Australia to play for the Wildcats midway through the 2016–17 NBL season, going on to lead Perth to the NBL championship in the 2017 NBL Finals behind a grand final MVP performance. After winning his first league MVP in 2018, he won his second and third NBL championships in 2019 and 2020 while also garnering his second NBL MVP and second grand final MVP in 2020. He won his third, fourth and fifth NBL MVPs in 2021, 2024 and 2025 respectively. In 2025, he set a club record with his seventh Wildcats Club MVP.

In May 2025, Cotton signed with the Adelaide 36ers. Four months later, he became an Australian citizen. In the 2025–26 season, Cotton collected his sixth NBL MVP, coming within one of Andrew Gaze's all-time best seven league MVPs.

Cotton was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. His parents separated when he was a toddler and his father worked as a police officer on the other side of the country. He reconnected with his father in New York while in college. His uncle, former NFL player David Adams, often provided the family with financial assistance during tough times. Cotton's grandmother, Mary, helped raise him and his brother Justin while their mother worked in real estate.

Cotton loved sports as a child, playing basketball, football and baseball. He was advised during fifth grade to no longer play football due to the high risk of head injuries which could lead to seizures. He was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy and his mother was told that he "wasn't going to make it past sixth grade, and that she should start planning for the funeral". The last seizure Cotton experienced was on his final day of sixth grade. He remained on medication for several years, but eventually no longer required treatment.

Focusing on basketball, one of Cotton's biggest deficiencies was his lack of height. He worked with his uncle for an edge to combat taller opponents and modelled his game on NBA star Allen Iverson. He spent much of his youth on outdoor basketball courts playing pick-up games.

After spending his junior year in Las Vegas, Cotton completed secondary school at Palo Verde High School in Tucson. Cotton helped lead Palo Verde to a 24–7 record and a berth in the state 4A semifinals in the 2009–10 season. He averaged 23.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.7 steals per game as a senior, and scored 30 or more points nine times, including a career-high 40 points in an 85–82 win over Buckeye on February 16, 2010. He also set a school record for the highest triple-double with 37 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Rio Rico on December 11, 2009. He earned First Team All-City and First Team All-State honors in 2010. He also had perfect grades and a high GPA.