NBA Coach: Cooks Brings 'Energy, Athleticism'

Monday, March 20, 2023

Sydney Kings’ forward Xavier Cooks won the NBL23 Championships and jetted off to the U.S to meet with his new team, the Washington Wizards for his NBA debut.

Sydney Kings and NBL fans alike know just how talented Xavier Cooks is, but arriving in the NBA, he'll have to fight once again to prove his talents.

The Washington Wizards know just what their new signing can do though.

The Wizards have been keeping a keen eye on this year's NBL MVP, and Cooks’ new head coach Wes Unseld Jr was quick to praise his latest addition.

"Another guy with size and athleticism. He's got the versatility, I think, to defend multiple positions," Unseld Jr. told NBC Sports.

"He has energy, a lot of the intangibles. A lot of times when you need a shot in the arm, you want a guy who can get to those 50-50 balls. He's a dynamic roller, an underrated playmaker in the pocket."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLxNBA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLxNBA</a><br><br>NBL Championship and an NBA debut in the same week. Shout out to Xavier Cooks on being the latest NBL player to make the Jump to the NBA. <a href="https://t.co/MdWWDuGNjz">pic.twitter.com/MdWWDuGNjz</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1637285555594739712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cooks travelled to the US the day after raising the trophy as captain of the Kings' back-to-back Championship winning side.

It wasn't long until he got his chance in Wizards' colours.

He played a little over five minutes on debut on Sunday afternoon Australian time, pulling down a pair of rebounds and looking comfortable with the pace of the game.

With Matthew Dellavedova lining up for the opposition, the Sacramento Kings, it was a special moment for the Australian stars.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome to the <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/xaviercooks10?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@xaviercooks10</a> ??? <a href="https://twitter.com/matthewdelly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@matthewdelly</a> <a href="https://t.co/wlyX519rgs">pic.twitter.com/wlyX519rgs</a></p>— NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA_AU/status/1637277694017830918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>