Cooks wins NZNBL MVP

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Sydney Kings forward and reigning NBL Finals MVP Xavier Cooks has added to his already hefty awards cabinet

By Dan Woods - NBL Media

Sydney Kings forward and reigning NBL Finals MVP Xavier Cooks has added to his already hefty awards cabinet this season in the NZNBL, taking out a trio of prestigious awards including league MVP.

Cooks, who averaged 21.8 points, 11.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks per game across 13 appearances for the Wellington Saints, was also awarded the Commissioners Cup as the league’s best forward and was named in the All Star Five.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">? Your 2022 <a href="https://twitter.com/NZStuff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZStuff</a> MVP is Xavier Cooks ?<a href="https://twitter.com/xaviercooks10?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@xaviercooks10</a> averaged 21.9 PTS, 11.8 REB, 4.4 AST, 1.8 STL & 1.8 BLK on 59.5% FG & 45.8% from three in 13 games for the <a href="https://twitter.com/saintswgtn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@saintswgtn</a> ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SalsNBL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SalsNBL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LetsGo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LetsGo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/skysportnz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@skysportnz</a> <a href="https://t.co/dRfqQoEz2J">pic.twitter.com/dRfqQoEz2J</a></p>— Sal’s NBL (@nznbl) <a href="https://twitter.com/nznbl/status/1556716877690195968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The voting panel for the award was comprised of the league’s ten head coaches plus five independent panellists.

Cooks’ strong individual performances helped lead the Saints to a fourth place finish despite their initial struggles at the start of the season in which they won only three of their first ten games.

The top six teams make the finals in the NZNBL, with the league adopting a similar format to that announced by the NBL last week.