Bryce Cotton has blamed Perth management for his exit from the Wildcats, claiming the NBL club gave him too short a time frame to decide his playing future.
But the Wildcats' owner has defended the club for making a "horrible" but apparently unavoidable decision to cut ties with one of the league's greatest ever players.
Five-time NBL MVP Cotton raised eyebrows signing with the Adelaide 36ers last week, having knocked back the Wildcats' contract extension after nine years in Perth.
But on Tuesday, the 32-year-old said the Wildcats were responsible for his decision to sign elsewhere by insisting he make a decision on his future before he had a proper chance to explore his options.
"As much as people feel or say, 'Why did I leave the Wildcats?', I didn't technically leave," Cotton told the EasyDay podcast.
"The Wildcats parted ways with me because I wasn't willing to give an answer back in March."
Cotton had been open with the Wildcats about his desire to test his value on the open market after the 2024/25 season, which finished as the greatest yet of his already illustrious NBL career.
The American had been linked with Japanese club Chiba Jets, coached by former Wildcats boss Trevor Gleeson, and played a handful of NBA games before arriving at the Wildcats.
But Cotton claims the Wildcats were pushing him for an answer only days after he'd touched down in Puerto Rico for a brief off-season stint at Mets de Guaynabo.
"At that point, I'm pretty sure the (NBL) grand final was still going on, Melbourne playing Illawarra," Cotton said.
"I had my agent tell them, 'Look, honestly, giving y'all within the next two or three days after I'd gotten to Puerto Rico, that s***'s not enough time for me to make a decision.
"Like not being no cocky or no arrogant s***, but I just had one of the greatest seasons in NBL history and I'm a free agent for the first time in forever. It couldn't have been a better time."
It left Cotton feeling there was only one option, to leave the Wildcats, telling the club: "I want to test free agency. So if you guys feel like you want to move on, I understand, but that (two or thee days) is not enough time for me to make a decision."
Wildcats owner Mark Arena has subsequently defended the Wildcats, telling NBL Now that the club did "everything we possibly could to sign (Cotton) with the time frame we had".
But the Wildcats had eight other players hitting free agency, including key men Keanu Pinder and Dylan Windler, so felt they needed an answer on their talisman's future.
"We didn't want to end up in a position where we were waiting and waiting and waiting (for an answer from Cotton) and we were at a point where other players perhaps started looking elsewhere," Arena said.
"It's a massive decision, a horrible decision we had to make, which was wait longer and risk the whole squad and our success, or make the hard call and move on and build a roster with plenty of time to do that that can win a championship."
Cotton insisted he remained close with the Wildcats playing roster and his final coach, John Rillie.
"I'm happy there's not beef between me and JR, it's all love. We spoke after the decision with Adelaide was made as well. It's all good," Cotton said.
