Hunter and Vasiljevic nominated for NBL Awards

Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings own Jordan Hunter and Dejan Vasiljevic have been nominated as finalists for the NBL 2020-21 Awards. 

Hunter is a favourite for the league's Most Improved Player award, while Dejan Vasiljevic has been nominated for Rookie of the Year.

Bryce Cotton, Tyler Harvey and Nathan Sobey are the three finalists for The Andrew Gaze Most Valuable Player (MVP) presented by Hungry Jack’s for the 2020/21 Season.

The winner of The Andrew Gaze MVP Award, along with all other NBL awards for the 2020/21 season, will be announced on Wednesday June 16. The Andrew Gaze MVP Awards will be broadcast live on ESPN at 8pm AEST next Wednesday.

Other finalists for awards are:

Lindsay Gaze Coach of the Year

Brian Goorjian (Illawarra Hawks)
Dean Vickerman (Melbourne United)
Trevor Gleeson (Perth Wildcats)

Most Improved Player

Finn Delany (Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers)
Jordan Hunter (Sydney Kings)
Sam Froling (Illawarra Hawks)

Best Sixth Man Presented by Marsh

Jo Lual-Acuil (Melbourne United)
Kyle Adnam (South East Melbourne Phoenix)
Scotty Hopson (Melbourne United)

Damian Martin Trophy for the Best Defensive Player

Justin Simon (Illawarra Hawks)
Mitch Norton (Perth Wildcats)
Tom Abercrombie (Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers)

Rookie of the Year Presented by Champion

Dejan Vasiljevic (Sydney Kings)
Josh Giddey (Adelaide 36ers)
Justinian Jessup (Illawarra Hawks)

Other awards to be announced include Most Outstanding Media Coverage, Referee of the Year Presented by Europcar, Gametime by Kmart Award Presented by Kmart, Fans MVP Presented by Chemist Warehouse, All-NBL First Team Presented by Bunnings Trade, All-NBL Second Team Presented by Bunnings Trade and Executive of the Year.

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

Coaches and captains from each of the nine teams then voted on the nominations with no coach or captain allowed to vote for a player from their own team.

Hungry Jack’s NBL Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger said: “In what has been a season like no other and one with numerous challenges, something that hasn’t changed is the world class quality of basketball on display in the NBL.

“Bryce Cotton, Tyler Harvey and Nathan Sobey have all had sensational seasons and are well deserved finalists for the MVP. The amount of superstars that are finalists for all other awards, along with those unlucky to miss out, reflects the depth of talent in the NBL.

“We also look forward to what should be a thrilling Hungry Jack’s NBL Finals series which tips-off this Thursday night.”

The panel of experts for the awards comprised of Andrew Gaze, Casey Frank, Greg Davis, Olgun Uluc, Jo Healy, John Casey, Lachlan Reid, Liam Santamaria and Matt Logue.