Kings duo nominated for NBL23 awards

The league-leading Sydney Kings have been rewarded for their exceptional campaign by having a number of individuals nominated for the NBL's annual end-of-season awards.

Forward Xavier Cooks, fresh off a historic triple-double on Sunday, is one of three players shortlisted for the NBL's most prestigious honour, the Andrew Gaze Most Valuable Player Trophy.

NBL22 Finals MVP Cooks, who is averaging 16.28 points (on 60 per cent shooting from the field), eight rebounds, 4.36 assists, 0.6 blocks and 0.56 steals per game, is up against Perth's Bryce Cotton and South East Melbourne's Mitch Creek for the top gong.

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While NBL22 championship-winner coach Chase Buford, who has steered the Kings to a 19-7 record this season, is in the running for this season's Lindsay Gaze Coach of the Year prize, alongside Cairns' Adam Forde and New Zealand's Mody Maor.

Kings import Justin Simon was a stunning omission for the Damian Martin Trophy for Defensive Player of the Year.

The nominees for the league's five other major awards were also revealed on Monday, including Most Improved Player (Cairns' Keanu Pinder, Tasmania's Sean McDonald and New Zealand's Will McDowell-White), Sixth Man of the Year (New Zealand's Barry Brown Jr, Tasmania's Rashard Kelly and Brisbane's Tyler Johnson), Damian Martin Trophy for Defensive Player of the Year (Adelaide's Antonius Cleveland, New Zealand's Dereck Pardon and Melbourne's Shae Ili) and the newly revamped Next Generation Award (Perth's Luke Travers, Illawarra's Sam Froling and Cairns' Sam Waardenburg).

The other awards that will be presented at Melbourne's NBL23 Awards night on Tuesday, February 7 are the Referee of the Year presented by Europcar, Gametime by Kmart Award and Fans’ MVP presented by Chemist Warehouse and All-NBL First and Second Team.

A panel of experts including Andrew Gaze, Greg Hire, Matt Logue, Jo Healy, Casey Frank, John Casey and Olgun Uluc selected the nominees for each of the major awards, with coaches and captains from each of the 10 teams then voting on the nominations - with no votes allowed for a player from their own team.

The awards will be broadcast on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel from 8.30pm AEDT.