Hot takes make headlines. They are part of what is now accepted as being within the realm of sports journalism so it is not anything unusual for even the most insane of claims to be considered. The NBL is obviously not exempt from the leagues across the world that possess the desire to manufacture excitement.

For many years, the NBL’s hot take head honcho was a role held dutifully well by player-turned-commentator Corey Williams. The assertive New York street baller made a seamless transition from talking himself up on the court to holding players accountable behind the microphone. His efforts did help to elevate the legitimacy of conversations around the NBL by either talking players up or talking them down. There was no moment that better exemplified his impact than when Bryce Cotton of the Perth Wildcats made a four-point play during a decisive win over the Adelaide 36ers in 2019; he then proceeded to point at Williams who was sitting in the commentary booth after recently criticising Cotton and the Wildcats for what he deemed as poor performance.

One commentator who will not receive a point from Cotton while sitting in the booth— nor perhaps even general acknowledgement — is Damon Lowery. Since Williams’ retirement in 2023 and tragically premature death in 2024, the NBL has platformed the often-debatable opinions of Lowery as a form of replacement. He has composed the league’s “Hooyah and Harden Up” column since 2024 which sets out to compliment or criticise teams and players based on their individual performances; its debut Instagram post received wide criticism from commenters.

Lowery also shares his opinions as a co-host of NBL Overtime and a guest on NBL Now. It was during an appearance on the latter that he made the observation of Cotton’s new team, the Adelaide 36ers, and their offensive limitations:

“As good as they’re playing this early, I’m thinking championship basketball. I’m not getting gassed up on the regular season as much. Any win’s a good win, but if Adelaide going to be serious about winning the whole thing, I think they don’t have enough offensive firepower.”

Lowery mentioned the scoring ability of Dejan Vasiljevic, did not feel the need to mention the scoring ability of Cotton and lamented the lack of scoring desire from Zylan Cheatham while giving his reasoning.

Cotton has undergone a liberation from restraint since he left the Wildcats earlier in the year as he was almost notoriously private and soft-spoken previously. Since that time, he has had his infamous rant at the hypocrisy of The West Australian after the gift they gave him (“I’m burning that motherfucker!”), been a frequent guest on podcasts and now fired some heavy insults at Lowery.

“Honestly, he hasn’t done enough as a basketball player for me to respect his opinion to be honest. No, I don’t usually listen to anybody — but especially not him.”

Firstly, the NBL hot take factory had a manufacturing miracle by being able to create content about both Lowery’s initial comments and Cotton’s subsequent response.

Secondly, having the star of the league openly dismiss the expertise of one of the most visible commentators of the league is a remarkable disconnect from reality for the NBL to be promoting. Has the NBL instructed us to also not respect nor listen to Lowery’s opinion?

It begs the further question: who is eligible to have an opinion and for it to be respected? The NBL continues to be such a small realm for journalism; the majority of the content that comes out is created by people employed by the league itself and published through its own channels. ESPN and Fox Sports — who also have affiliations with the league — publish their own coverage as do multiple independent websites and podcasts. I know undeniably that a majority of those people coming up with ideas, writing articles, hosting podcasts and creating basketball discourse do not have resumes that would be considered close to passing Cotton’s benchmark. Lowery is a former professional basketball player who played six seasons in the NBL and helped lead the Wollongong Hawks to their first championship in 2001; that was not enough to be respected. Could it be perceived that my own opinion — with no meaningful basketball playing experience beyond year 6 of primary school — does not matter? I would hope not for at least the sake of everybody else with similar backgrounds who are also compelled to share their views and contribute to meaningful and thoughtful coverage.

What is more stunning for Cotton’s Lowery takedown is that it was not because of any personal dismissal; Cotton was not even mentioned in Lowery’s original comments. Instead, it is apparent that Cotton’s disdain for the perception of Lowery is so great that it warranted a complete humiliation of his past accomplishments. A past Cotton might have played ignorant, not known the full extent of the comments, approached it softly and said all the outside news does not matter. No. The new Cotton considers the history of a basketball player before their opinion is respected even though he does not usually listen to anybody — and especially not Lowery.

This moment obviously does not change much. Williams will not be replicated. Lowery will keep sharing his opinion (and believe that the Illawarra Hawks can turn it around this season). Cotton will continue on his journey through greatness. Yet I am left wandering: is it worth sharing an opinion if the person sharing has dubious accomplishments to warrant respect? Perhaps this article attempts to find out.