 Cooks with theWashington Wizards in 2023 | |
| No. 10 – Sydney Kings | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward |
| League | NBL |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1995-08-19)19 August 1995 (age 29) Ballarat,Victoria, Australia |
| Listed height | 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) |
| Listed weight | 83 kg (183 lb) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Holy Spirit College (Wollongong, New South Wales) |
| College | Winthrop (2014–2018) |
| NBA draft | 2018:undrafted |
| Playing career | 2013–present |
| Career history | |
| 2013 | Illawarra Hawks (Waratah) |
| 2014 | BA Centre of Excellence |
| 2018–2019 | s.Oliver Würzburg |
| 2019–2023 | Sydney Kings |
| 2022 | Wellington Saints |
| 2023 | Washington Wizards |
| 2023–2024 | Chiba Jets Funabashi |
| 2024–present | Sydney Kings |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Xavier Cooks (born 19 August 1995) is an Australian professionalbasketball player for theSydney Kings of theNational Basketball League (NBL). He playedcollege basketball for theWinthrop Eagles, where he was named the 2018Big South Conference Player of the Year. In 2022, he helped the Sydney Kings win theNBL championship while earninggrand final MVP honours. In 2023, he was namedNBL MVP and won his second straight NBL championship.
Cooks was born inBallarat,Victoria.[1] He grew up inWollongong, New South Wales, and attended Holy Spirit College.[2][3]
In 2013, Cooks played for theIllawarra Hawks in theWaratah League.[4] The following year, he moved toCanberra and played for theBA Centre of Excellence in theSouth East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).[4]
Cooks moved to the United States in 2014 to playcollege basketball for theWinthrop Eagles. He chose Winthrop over offers from schools such asUC Santa Barbara,Boise State,Hartford,Maine, andNicholls State.[5]
As a freshman in 2014–15, Cooks was named to theBig South Conference All-Freshman Team.[4] As a sophomore in 2015–16, he earned second-team All-Big South honours.[4]
As a junior in 2016–17, Cooks earned first-team All-Big South.[6] He helped Winthrop win theBig South Tournament and earned Big South All-Tournament Team.[4] On 15 February 2017, he recorded the first 20-point, 20-rebound game for Winthrop since 2003.[7]
As a senior in 2017–18, Cooks was again named first-team All-Big South and theBig South Player of the Year.[8] During the season, he became Winthrop's all-time leading rebounder.[9]
In 2020, Cooks was voted into the Big South Men's Basketball All-Decade Team (2010–19).[10]
After going undrafted in the2018 NBA draft, Cooks joined theGolden State Warriors for the2018 NBA Summer League.[11] He played fors.Oliver Würzburg in Germany in 2018–19[12] and then joined thePhoenix Suns for the2019 NBA Summer League.[11]
Cooks initially signed with French teamSIG Strasbourg for the 2019–20 season,[13] but left due to injury.[14]
On 27 November 2019, Cooks signed with theSydney Kings of the AustralianNBL on a multi-year deal.[15] Following the2019–20 season, Cooks opted out of his deal[16] and then re-signed with the Kings for the2020–21 NBL season.[17] He averaged 10.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in his second season with Sydney.[18]
On 30 June 2021, Cooks re-signed with the Kings for the2021–22 NBL season.[19] He helped the Kings win the 2022NBL championship while earningGrand Final MVP honours.[20]
On 18 May 2022, Cooks signed with theWellington Saints for the rest of the2022 New Zealand NBL season.[21] He went on to winleague MVP,All-Star Five andMost Outstanding Forward.[22][23]
On 22 June 2022, Cooks re-signed with the Kings on a three-year deal.[24] On 29 January 2023, he had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 111–106 win over theSouth East Melbourne Phoenix, marking the league's firsttriple-double since 2021 and the first from a Sydney player sinceDontaye Draper in 2008.[25] He went on to winNBL MVP for the2022–23 season[26] and helped the Kings win back-to-back championships.[27] He finished the season averaging 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.[28]
On 17 March 2023, Cooks signed with theWashington Wizards of theNational Basketball Association (NBA).[29] He made his NBA debut the next day, recording two rebounds in five and a half minutes against theSacramento Kings.[30] In the Wizards' final game of the season on 9 April, he recorded 10 points and 14 rebounds in 35 minutes as a starter against theHouston Rockets.[31]
On 23 October 2023, Cooks was waived by the Wizards.[32]
On 21 November 2023, Cooks signed withChiba Jets Funabashi of theB.League.[33] The team won theEASL championship for the2023–24 season.[34] He averaged over 13 points and eight rebounds in 52 appearances with the Jets.[35]
On 27 May 2024, Cooks signed a three-year deal with the Sydney Kings.[35] He was named to theAll-NBL Second Team for the2024–25 season.[36]
On 11 February 2025, the NBL announced a mandatory provisional suspension had been imposed on Cooks and he would miss any of the remaining playoff games.
In 2017, Cooks was named to the Australian "Emerging Boomers" squad for theSummer Universiade.[37]
In early August 2019, Cooks made the final cut forAustralia's2019 FIBA World Cup roster.[38] However, one week later he was forced to withdraw from the competition due to a knee injury sustained during practice.[39]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–23 | Washington | 10 | 1 | 12.6 | .607 | .000 | .400 | 3.8 | .6 | .6 | .4 | 3.8 |
| Career | 10 | 1 | 12.6 | .607 | .000 | .400 | 3.8 | .6 | .6 | .4 | 3.8 | |
Cooks is the son of Eric and Josie. His father is anAfrican-American expatriate who became a naturalised citizen of Australia,[1] and his mother is Australian.[40] His father played college basketball forSt. Mary's College inCalifornia before relocating to Australia to pursue a professional career.[41] He has two siblings, Georgia and Dominique. His brother was also a basketball player.[42]He was provisionally suspended in February 2025 following a positive doping test result. The breach of the Australian National Anti-Doping Policy (ANADP) showed a positive result for Cocaine.[43][44]