Everything indicates that Mike James will become the top scorer in the history of the Euroleague this Thursday. The player of AS Monaco accumulate 4,444 points and needs 12 to surpass the mark of the legendary Vassilis Spanoulis. This season he is averaging 19.3 points, leading the statistics, so it is assumed that he will break the record in the duel that will confront his team with Red Star.
James’s (Portland, 1990) is an unexpected career. That of a 1.85 meter shooting guard who studied and played in Junior colleges, Eastern Arizona and Lamar, which did not attract the attention of NBA franchises despite scoring 52 points in a game. That of the compulsive scorer who was not drafted. That of a player who had to cross the Atlantic to He started his professional career in Zagreb and then went through the Italian Third Division and the Greek Colossi of Rhodes..
Top scorers in Euroleague history
- Vassilis Spanoulis – 4,455 puntos
- Mike James – 4,444 points
- Nando De Colo – 4,396 points
- Juan Carlos Navarro – 4,152 points
- Sergio Llull – 3,872 points
- Sergio Rodríguez – 3,731 points
- Jan Vesely – 3,703 points
- Giorgios Printezis – 3,599 puntos
- Kostas Sloukas – 3,489 puntos
- Nikola Mirotic – 3,416 points
From there, Alfredo Salazar, the man who has brought so much talent to Baskonia, linked him up.. He recruited him in 2014 and changed his life. The shooting guard was one of the sensations of that season in both the Endesa League and the Euroleague. In Vitoria he became the continental star he is today. She later demonstrated it in Panathinaikos, Armani Milan, CSKA and now AS Monaco.
Excellent scorer capable of converting impossible shots, efficient triple shooter, great penetrator and lethal under pressure. Only Alphonso Ford (22.2) and Kaspars Kambala (16.7) exceed their average of 16.5 points throughout their Euroleague career. His percentages are 49.5% on two-point shots, 33.8% on three-pointers and 80.4% from personal range.
Mike James goes to the basket in a game against Baskonia.
James tried without success to find a place in the NBA. In the 2017-18 season, after his first year at Panathinaikos, he played 36 games between the Suns and the Pelicans before returning to the Greek team. In the 2020-21 fiscal year he returned to the United States to play with his friend Kevin Durant’s Nets. He also failed to settle. His career in the best League in the world is reduced to 49 games with averages of 8.9 points in 18.8 minutes.
Controversies with Messina, Itoudis…
But James’ career is also that of a wayward genius who has had controversies in almost every place he has played. From KK Zagreb, his first team in Europe, he was fired for falling asleep during video sessions. Ettore Messina He told him as soon as he arrived on the Armani Milan bench that he was not counting on him. Dimitris Itoudis had numerous run-ins with him at CSKA and even removed him from the team. In Monaco he was sanctioned after a night out. With his activity on social networks he has also gotten into several puddles.
He is, like Drazen Petrovic, a workaholic. He works harder than everyone else and that’s why he is who he is.
Sasa Obradovic, coach of AS Monaco
However, Sasa Obradovic, his current coach in the Principalityassures that their relationship is excellent and only has good words for him. “There is no other like it. In the technical-tactical sense, it is the best I have had the opportunity to see. I work with him every day and I know what I’m talking about. “I have played with the best players and I can say that no one has had that level of talent combined with speed,” he says. the coach, who even compares him to Drazen Petrovic: “He is, like him, a workaholic. He works harder than the others and that is why he is who he is”. The future top scorer in Euroleague history.
2024-03-07 12:06:57
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