Perth Wildcats to honour Bryce Cotton in blockbuster return to Perth as Mark Arena denies bad blood after move
The Perth Wildcats shocked the NBL when they parted ways with Bryce Cotton. But Wildcats boss Mark Arena says while they lost the league’s best player, the team itself is better for the call.
Perth Wildcats owner Mark Arena hasn’t spoken to Bryce Cotton since the guard’s contentious exit from the club, but insists “Bryce and I are fine”, as the Wildcats prepare to recognise the champion’s enormous contribution to the franchise when he returns to ‘The Jungle’ on Sunday.
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Arena says it’s all business ahead of Cotton’s blockbuster first game in Perth since leaving in the off-season to join arch rivals the Adelaide 36ers.
“Bryce has done so much for the Wildcats and rightfully so we will recognise him at the game (on Sunday) and whatever he does post the Perth Wildcats,” Arena said.
“We can’t take that away. Five MVP’s, massive success with the club and multiple championships.
“I think Bryce is a great individual on and off the court.”
Cotton’s shock move sparked national headlines after the Wildcats made the difficult decision to part ways with the five-time MVP to focus on building a roster with two-thirds of the squad on expiring contracts.
Arena labelled it a “horrible decision we had to make” at the time, but stressed the club couldn’t wait for a response from the guard with a necessity to also lock in other players.
Cotton said the parting was a result of not receiving an answer from him regarding his contract status in a timely manner.
The Wildcats have since re-signed Kristian Doolittle, Dylan Windler, and Sunday Dech.
Arena has heard all the murmurs of a split between he and Cotton, but insists there is no personal ill-will behind the club’s decision to move in a different direction.
“It is nothing to do individually with Bryce with me or me with Bryce,” he said.
“For me, it is all about we have a budget and one of the largest in the league to build a team and like I said when I came in the best thing is how do we effectively use that to win a championship.
“That is the focus of every club owner in the league.”
Asked if he expects a big performance from Cotton in his return to Perth, Arena said: “I mean, I think you always have to.
“He is such a great player. I think he is still the best player in the league and that isn’t a debate for us.
“But the question is it isn’t one-on-one and it’s five-on-five and it is how you can best put a team together to win a championship.
“If you look at the past two years, the championships have been won by well-rounded teams in Tasmania and Illawarra.
“That is what we’re aiming for – to build a team that can win the championship.”
Round 11 is a bumper weekend for Perth with two marquee home games against the NBL’s top two teams in Melbourne United and Adelaide.
Arena says Sunday’s 36ers clash is tracking towards a sellout.
“Bryce sells tickets, so I’d be surprised if it isn’t sold out,” he said.
“It is a big thing for us. We played the No.1 team in Melbourne United on Thursday and then we’ve got the No.2 team in Adelaide on Sunday.
“It is really interesting from an NBL perspective because pretty much any team on their day can beat another.
“So whoever is in form at the right end of the season is probably going to be the one who wins the championship.”
PLAN TO STOP TROLLS
Mark Arena is well versed in online trolling having previously worked for the Federal Police, but even he has been shocked of abuse aimed at NBL players since joining Perth as the club’s owner.
Arena – who started his career tracking down cyber criminals as a technical specialist for the Australian Federal Police – can’t believe the level of online vitriol across the NBL community.
“I’ve been blown away by the level of abuse, whether it is players, coaches, commentators and media,” said Arena, who also co-founded Intel 471 in 2014, a company that tracked criminals and sold intelligence on cyber threats.
“People think they have anonymity online, but the reality is the most sophisticated people online still get broken and everyone makes mistakes over periods of time and my skills is hunting those mistakes.
“I’m a big free speech supporter and I’m happy for people to give positive and negative opinions, but when it goes into abuse it is something I don’t any of us should tolerate.”
Australian basketballers are fed up with vile, sexist, abusive trolls flooding their social media inboxes. Now the code’s governing body is taking action to protect its stars.
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The NBL, WNBL and Basketball Australia recently partnered with Social Protect – a real-time platform that identifies and removes abusive online comments.
Arena believes it is “asking for trouble” to give social media companies people’s ID information, but there is scope for the government to legislate a verification component.
“Maybe it is a part of it is recorded so you can go back to the government agency if you absolutely need to identify who is behind the social media account through a court order,” he said.
“This is already done for financial initiations that run ID checks and my view is that it should be legislated.”
CELTICS CHAMP INSPIRES FROLING COMEBACK
Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum and Illawarra Hawks big man Sam Froling are inspiring each other’s comebacks from Achilles injuries.
Hawks coach Justin Tatum revealed recovery videos are being shared between his son Jayson and Sam and it’s motivating both players in their bids to return ahead of schedule.
“Jayson is a big fan of Sam because I send him videos of each other going back and forth in recovery,” Justin Tatum told Code Sports.
“They are probably a month off in their recoveries. I send motivational films of Jayson and Sam’s progress to each player. Jayson now asks about Sam and vice versa. They haven’t met each other, but they are experiencing similar injuries and I’m the mutual person in between.
“It’s good to see two guys are really pushing each other as professionals to get back to doing what they love to do.”
Tatum is hoping to return for the Celtics in the New Year while Froling is also tracking for a potential January comeback, which doesn’t surprise his younger brother Harry.
“I’ve said it from the day he got injured, Sam is a monster, he works his tail off,” Harry said.
“He is a work horse and I never had any doubt and that is why I had a laugh when there were doubts.”
BEST SINCE GIDDEY AND BALL?
Mexican sensation Karim Lopez has entered his name in the upper echelon of NBL Next Stars following his standout season with the New Zealand Breakers.
The 18-year-old forward continued his stellar form on Wednesday night, dropping 18 points and 7 rebounds in a win over the Sydney Kings.
It begs the question: where does Lopez – a projected lottery pick in next year’s NBA draft - sit in the Next Stars’ respected history? At present, he is nipping at the heels of the program’s flag-bearers in LaMelo Ball and Australia’s own Josh Giddey.
Originally published as Perth Wildcats to honour Bryce Cotton in blockbuster return to Perth as Mark Arena denies bad blood after move
‘Top of the list’: Cotton heaps big praise on 36ers win in Perth return
