Cleveland and Rathan-Mayes shortlisted for NBL22 awards

Illawarra Hawks duo Antonius Cleveland and Xavier Rathan-Mayes have been rewarded for their strong campaigns, by being shortlisted for two respective NBL22 awards.

Memphis product Cleveland, who is averaging 14.15 points, 6.19 rebounds, 1.96 steals and 1.15 blocks per game, is in the running for the Damian Martin Trophy for the Best Defensive Player alongside Melbourne United's Shea Ili and Sydney Kings' Xavier Cooks.

While fellow import Rathan-Mayes, who is averaging 10.31 points, 4.35 and 4.19 assists per contest, is one of three players shortlisted for the Sixth Man of the Year Presented by Marsh Insurance, with Tasmania's Clint Steindl and Melbourne's Shea Ili also in the running.

These finalists represent just two of the six award nominees revealed by the NBL on Thursday, ahead on the presentation night on Wednesday, April 27, live on ESPN. 

Headlining the awards will again be the NBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, presented by Hungry Jack’s. trophy, which will be contested by Perth's Bryce Cotton, Sydney's Jaylen Adams and Melbourne's Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.

After another stunning campaign with the Wildcats, Cotton will be looking to win his third straight MVP and fourth in the past five years.

He could become just the second player in history to win three consecutive MVPs, joining the man the award is named in honour of, Andrew Gaze. Cotton is also leading the league in scoring at 22.4 points per game.

Adams has led the Sydney Kings’ resurgence averaging 20.1 points, 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds since his delayed start to the season. 

Lual-Acuil has filled the void left by Jock Landale at Melbourne United in tremendous fashion, posting career-high averages with 16.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

In other news, Sydney's Chase Buford, Melbourne's Dean Vickerman and Tasmania's Scott Roth will duke it out for the Lindsay Gaze Coach of the Year prize, while Melbourne's Jo Lual-Acuil Jr,  Cairns' Keanu Pinder and New Zealand's Yanni Wetzell are shortlisted for the Most Improved Player gong.

Finally, Cairns' Bul Kuol, Perth's Luke Travers and New Zealand's Ousmane Dieng will go head-to-head for the Rookie of the Year presented by Champion.

The All-NBL First Team, All-NBL Second Team, Executive of the Year, Referee of the Year presented by Europcar, Gametime by Kmart Award and Fans’ MVP presented by Chemist Warehouse will also be announced on the night.

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A panel of experts selected the nominees for each of the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Best Sixth Man, Best Defensive Player and Most Improved Player. 

The panel included Andrew Gaze, John Casey, Damian Martin, Liam Santamaria, Kane Pitman, Marc Hinton, Matt Logue, Derek Rucker and Anthony Stewart.

Coaches and captains from each of the 10 teams then voted on the nominations with no votes allowed for a player from their own team.

“It has been one of the most memorable NBL seasons in our recent history and we congratulate all of the finalists for maintaining such an incredible standard in what’s been another challenging campaign in so many ways,” NBL commissioner Jeremy Loeliger said.

“The quality of basketball has gone to another level and that is clearly reflected in the calibre of all our finalists, as well as our unprecedented audience growth and media coverage. 

“It would be remiss of me not to highlight the great success of the Tasmania JackJumpers who, in their inaugural season, are on the cusp of a finals berth and have two finalists in our award nominees including Scott Roth for Coach of the Year.

“We look forward to what promises to be a fantastic night and the opportunity to celebrate a great regular season, ahead of one of the most hotly anticipated finals in recent memory.”