It was supposed to be over. Bryce Cotton had spent nine seasons with the Perth Wildcats and achieved the pinnacle of ability. He arrived midway during the 2016–17 season – only one year removed from time in the NBA – and went on to win his first championship a few months later. He could have gone anywhere in the world but he was here. There was always the allure coming from the higher paying realms of leagues in Europe and Asia or the possibility of a call-up in the NBA G League. That was always what was particularly special about watching him play; he could have been anywhere in the world but he was here with us.

That championship in his first season was only foreshadowing what was to come. He won another championship in 2019 and then repeated in 2020. He was selected as the league’s most valuable player in 2018, 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025; only Andrew Gaze has more with 7. He led the league in scoring eight times; again, only Gaze has done it more with 14. He was named to the all-league team eight times; only Gaze, Mark Bradtke, Leroy Loggins, Darryl McDonald and Robert Rose have earned more nominations. Cotton is all-time and it is possible to argue that he is the greatest – only “the great one” Gaze holds a resume that is worthy of comparison.

Every time Cotton stepped on the court, there was a chance of a miracle happening. He would go against the top defensive talents in the league and overcome anything that was thrown at him. He would face double-teams or triple-teams or have the focus of the whole opposition team and still find a way to score. He was lightning quick on fastbreaks and could twist in the air for layups and shoot from anywhere and he would celebrate with the full abundance of self-belief. Everybody in the arena could know where the ball was going for the last second chance of a Wildcats victory and it would still end up in the hands of the one person who had the destiny to determine victory.

Cotton’s championship golden era was with the collaboration of head coach Trevor Gleeson. They were together from 2017 to 2021 and won three championships during that time. Gleeson was recognised as a talent of his own and departed to pursue coaching opportunities in the NBA. The Wildcats were not prepared for his departure and shipped in then-Boston Celtics assistant coach, Scott Morrison, with the promise of carrying on as usual; he instead led the Wildcats to its first time missing the playoffs since 1986. He was promptly dispersed to be replaced by John Rillie, the former long-time NBL player, in his first head coaching role.

There was a visible friction between Cotton and Rillie and it was apparently never patched. Their combination – and perhaps dissatisfaction – did result in a career-year for Cotton during the 2024–25 season: an unbelievable 28.6 points per game and a 59-point performance that is the second-highest in the league’s 40-minute game history. Still, the team of the greatest player in the competition failed to make it past the semifinals for a fourth consecutive year.

The talk of the whole season was that Cotton was gone. He was at least definitely removed from the Wildcats; he posted his tribute post signalling his own departure at the end of the season. It looked like he would be another one of the players who came here, shone so brightly across Australia and then left to do the same thing elsewhere in the world.

Maybe everyone forgot that Cotton had stayed previously. He has an Australian wife and their daughter was born here. He once dreamt of playing for the Australian national team even though the federal government has ensured his naturalisation has been a painstakingly impossible situation. He still stayed in a country that showered him with love and he would do anything within his possibility to show why he deserved it all plus more.

It was fitting that a local Adelaide sports reporter was the one to break the news. Such revelations deserve to come from the soil of where it sprouts. The realisation of change would have not had that same feeling if it was to come from elsewhere.

Bryce Cotton signed with the Adelaide 36ers on a three-year contract. It is undoubtedly and incomparably the biggest signing in league history. At the age of 33 when the season starts, the 36ers have secured the final years of Cotton’s prime. The team only started their negotiations two weeks earlier and made an offer – in the words of general manager Matt Weston –that Cotton could not decline. The move is the equivalent of shooting for the stars and landing in a new universe. Cotton is also reunited with head coach Mike Wells who was an assistant coach on the Utah Jazz when Cotton had a brief stint with the team in 2015.

Of course, I have been poking fun at the 36ers for signing an abundance of guards and they now attain the best guard in the league to top it off. Cotton will be partnered with Dejan Vasiljevic to form what will be the league’s benchmark backcourt duo. The starting line-up will also feature Flynn Cameron (who I had anticipated to potentially be the starting point guard but will now be firmly in the small forward position), Isaac Humphries (who will now grasp previously unreachable levels of self-confidence at the urging of Cotton’s leadership) and a mystery power forward (who is already being teased as someone huge).

Cotton joining the 36ers is a great signing. Like himself, it could be the greatest.