Australian Basketball Players’ Association honour for Hoops Capital trio

Three Hoops Capital athletes were acknowledged at Sunday’s annual Australian Basketball Players’ Association awards evening in Melbourne.

Flames pair Cayla George and Tess Madgen were named the WNBL Players’ Player of the Year and Opals Players’ Player of the Year respectively.

George averaged 18.5 points, 11.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists during her maiden MVP season during WNBL23 while Madgen, who captains the Opals, guided the Australian team to bronze medals at the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup and 2023 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.

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While former Sydney King Xavier Cooks was named as the Australian Basketball Players’ Association (ABPA) NBL Players’ Player of the Year, celebrating his performances during the Kings’ successful title triumph.

Cooks was also named the regular season MVP en route to the Kings winning their second straight NBL title and earned a move to NBA side Washington following the culmination of the season.

The 27-year-old averaged 15.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in 34 appearances over the NBL23 season.

South East Melbourne’s Mitch Creek and Perth’s Bryce Cotton were the other nominees for the award.

Other winners on the night included Nick Kay (ABPA Boomers Player of the Year), Megan Hustwaite (ABPA Media Award) and Alex Bunton (ABPA Community and Leadership Award).