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Keith Smith: As part of the process to complete their offseason moves, the Brooklyn Nets renounced FA rights for LaMarcus Aldridge, Wilson Chandler, Mike James, De'Anthony Melton, Dennis Smith Jr and Ziaire Williams. Brooklyn will re-sign Williams with either cap space or the Room Exception.
Mike James could leave Monaco. According to BasketNews, a meeting between the player and the Monaco management is scheduled for Monday, it is not clear whether today or next week. Meanwhile, according to reports from Greece, Olympiacos is monitoring the situation. The Greeks had already followed Mike James last summer, now with Vasa Micic heading to Fenerbahce a new assault would be possible.
Mike James leaving Monaco?
EuroLeague star Mike James could be on his way out of AS Monaco, sources tell BasketNews. James is currently exploring a potential exit from the club following an internal suspension handed down at the end of the French League season.
Mike, you've said before that this is your last contract — and I just don't believe it. Can you talk about it? Can you finally tell us that this is not going to be your last contract? Mike James: It finally might be, brother. I got two more years. Why does everybody want me to play longer? Leave me alone.
Mike James: 22, 23, 24-year-old guys that are considered stars are getting criticized for not winning a championship, when a lot of our favorite players didn’t win until they were in their late 20s. And it’s become a thing where now guys are like: “[Expletive], let me just at least get one so I’m not labeled like this for the rest of my life.” In a team sport — that is so frustrating. It makes people do things they wouldn’t have done in the past. Simple as that.
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The All-25 EuroLeague Team is taking shape, with the third set of inductees being confirmed. Luka Doncic, Milos Teodosic, Dejan Bodiroga, Georgios Printezis and Walter Tavares join fellow honorees Dimitris Diamantidis, Mike James, Vasilije Micic, Anthony Parker, Sergio Rodriguez, Nando De Colo, Sergio Llull, Ramunas Siskauskas, Vassilis Spanoulis and Nikola Vujcic. The selection process combined the votes of EuroLeague head coaches who had won a championship, past All-Decade Team members and MVPs, media representatives and fans. The coaches and playing greats each made up 40% of the final vote, and the media and fans were 10% each.
"I feel like people talk about legacies too much. Me and Kev [Durant] are having a talk about that stuff all the time because people say a lot of stuff about his legacy and mine. So, you're telling me that in 20 years, we're going to look back at Kev and say, 'Oh, he wasn't one of the best to ever do it because he didn't win a championship without Steph [Curry].' That's what you're telling me? There's no way you're going to say that. There's no way in 20 years you're going to look back at me and be like, 'If he never won a EuroLeague championship or never made another All-EuroLeague Team, he wasn't that good because he didn't win a championship.'
During the summer, the 34-year-old guard signed a 3-year extension with Monaco, securing his stay with the club until 2027. James admitted that it might be his last contract. "It's a possibility, to be honest," James said when he was asked about retirement. "I think it was already getting closer to me, and then with the surgery I had this summer and still trying to get back to my normal self, I'm probably still like 80% of myself at this point. It's a rough feeling. So, I just want to call it quits."
Mike James On Approaching European Basketball "My real first thoughts were just like... I approached it like I was doing jail time. Like, I just need to be overseas, get my stuff right, and then I'll go back home soon. But that was a terrible approach to it. My first year, my second year, I opened up a little bit more and tried to get out the house more and explore stuff. So that helped me out. And as much as like, you know, when Americans come over here, basketball is like the tell-all, be-all—so, like, if basketball is good, everything else is going to be good. But having a distraction and a release outside of basketball when it’s tough is a big thing."
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Mike James On Championship Opportunities Lost "If James and Kyrie don’t get hurt—or maybe even just Kyrie—I still might have a ring. Honestly, I feel like I could’ve gotten 10 or 12 a game in the playoffs. In the playoffs, 10 or 12 is a lot. The series went how it went, but Kevin played like the three best games I’ve ever seen in person. The highest form of basketball I’ve ever witnessed. Nothing fazed him—double team, bump, fade—bucket."
Mike James: 'I think that NBA teams look at me like a risk'
However, his short-lived NBA experiences didn't quite cut it for him. He found himself craving more minutes and a major role, leading him to focus his career on European basketball instead. "I think that NBA teams look at me like a risk," James said during SKWEEK's Best In Class podcast. "Cuz every time I talk with them, not me personally but my representatives, they kind of feel like, 'Yeah, but if it doesn't go well for you, you just get mad and leave and go back to Europe.' "Everybody just kind of thinks that if I'm not playing as much as I want, I'm going," he added. "Everybody kind of considers me like I've outgrown the role that they want to put me in, but they need to put me in that role for me to get a bigger role. So, it's like a give-and-take at some point."
When asked about his favorite place to live in Europe, James shared a mix of opinions. "I just have pros and cons about each one. Baskonia was terrible, Vitoria is the worst," he said. "I don't even know if it's really the worst, but I was like 24-25 years old, a newly single male in Vitoria. It was literally for me nothing to do. It was the worst. "I don't really know if it's that bad as the city because it has good restaurants. But when I was there, they didn't have English movies, it wasn't just a lot for me to do, to be honest. And they get mad every time I say that, but it's the truth," the EuroLeague MVP continued.
Vincent Poirier: I don't think the G League is even a real league
What didn’t change was Vincent Poirier’s belief that EuroLeague remains the best basketball option outside the NBA – where he also played – and he responded to Juan Anderson Toscano’s recent remarks while talking to Eurohoops on Anadolu Efes‘ media day. “I talked to a few friends about what he said”, Poirier explained. “I also saw Evan (Fournier)’s tweets and Mike James’ tweets. Yes, he might have said that to motivate his team, but it shows how hard all European teams play. Malaga (Unicaja) is not even a EuroLeague team, yet they beat the best team in the G League. I don’t think the G League is even a real league.”
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