Star hits out at All-NBL snub

While most of the fallout from Monday’s NBL awards night has centred around Adelaide’s Bryce Cotton edging Sydney’s Kendric Davis for the MVP, one three-time NBA champion has now chimed in about his All-NBL omission.

Olympic gold medalist and Illawarra Hawks big man JaVale McGee took to social media on Wednesday night to question why he wasn’t part of the two All-NBL Teams, despite being shortlisted for the 2025-26 MVP award and having one of the competition’s best statistical seasons.

“No 1st team or 2nd @NBL honors… all good… asking for next time what are the parameters?” McGee said on X.

“6th (19.3) in scoring, 2nd (10) in rebounds. 1st in blocks. Average a double double In under 26mins… clearly not making playoffs doesn’t matter.”

The two All-NBL Teams this season comprised of:

All-NBL First Team

Bryce Cotton (Adelaide 36ers) - 54 votes
Kendric Davis (Sydney Kings)  - 52 votes
Nathan Sobey (South East Melbourne Phoenix)  - 52 votes
Kristian Doolittle (Perth Wildcats) - 51 votes
John Brown III (South East Melbourne Phoenix) - 36 votes

All-NBL Second Team

Jack McVeigh (Cairns Taipans)  - 31 votes
Parker Jackson-Cartwright (New Zealand Breakers)  - 30 votes
Xavier Cooks (Sydney Kings)  - 30 votes
Bryce Hamilton (Tasmania JackJumpers) - 28 votes
Zylan Cheatham (Adelaide 36ers)  – 23 votes

The NBL26 Finals tip off on Wednesday, March 4, with the Seeding Qualifier between South East Melbourne and Perth at John Cain Arena from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.