In the summer of 2013, Mike James left Israel.
The skinny center finished his first season as a professional player in Hapoel Galil Aliyon of the National League and considered the next step in his career, after a wonderful half season in the north in which he recorded 22.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
It is doubtful whether the most optimistic of the people of Galilee, those who saw the center on a daily basis in the winter of 2013, believed that the young man would grow into one of the greatest players in European basketball and the king of baskets in the Euroleague, and whether they believed that they saw his breakthrough.
Unlike the stars marked from a young age, James was not recognized and published in his youth and despite a period he did not receive offers from the major colleges.
In his final season at the university, he averaged 17.1 points per game, leading Lamar to its first College Championship Tournament appearance in 12 years.
Despite the achievement, he was not selected in the draft and did not gain interest from the biggest teams in Europe, and chose KK Zagreb as his first team in his career overseas.
James in a Milan uniform, photo: Getty Images
Unfortunately, things did not go as he had hoped and the club stopped paying him, which led the guard to leave the team in the middle of the season.
The one who won from the loser was Hapoel Galil Alyon, who qualified for the playoffs with him, but was stopped by Nes Ziona, who went on and went up a league.
In the end, the center was offered to most of the Premier League teams, without winning any of them - he left Israel for Paponi Omonia from the third division in Italy, from there he moved to Colossus Rhodes, a club from the first division in Greece, but is not considered particularly strong.
After two months in Rhodes, in which he once again experienced poor payment ethics, James advanced to Laboral Vittoria who bet and won the entire pot.
"Mike was a special player who starred very quickly in our league. He came out of nowhere and immediately caught the attention of all of us. We would watch him every week score in bunches on every court in the league. By the time we could understand who he was and how special he was, Lavorel grabbed him and made a great deal" , says Greek journalist Christos Harfidis in a conversation with Israel Hayom.
In the Spanish team, which also played in the Euroleague, James won for the first time in his European career.
The guard averaged 10.0 points along with 2.7 assists and qualified with the team for the Final Four.
For the first time in his career, even the old continent could no longer ignore James, including one group from Tel Aviv, which began to think about his return to the Holy Land.
Over the years, he played in Europe's top clubs, such as Armani Milan, CSKA Moscow and Panathinaikos, alongside periods in the NBA in the ranks of New Orleans, Phoenix and Brooklyn. At the end of the 2021 season, James surprised everyone when he chose to leave the best league in the world after a good year personally And to return to European basketball, precisely to the ranks of Monaco. The French team was a rising force in basketball, able to pay a player huge sums, but of course not one expected to win the Euroleague.
James in the NBA.
show what he's worth,
Will he come back?
Over the years, the player's name was mentioned as a candidate for Maccabi Tel Aviv, but a combination of circumstances and other tempting financial offers prevented the move from coming to fruition.
In the summer, when Oded Ketch took over, James' name appeared on the lists as the preferred option, but the player signed a contract extension in France.
"Maccabi wanted Mike, but the financial demands along with the fear of depending on one player, similar to the Scotty Wilbkin case, prevented his arrival," testifies a source familiar with the details.
In an interview given by the coach of the yellows in the summer, he said about the star: "How would we get along? Good question. In my intuition, I don't know if I would make him a method player. It is a possibility, he is one of the names that came up and I felt less comfortable with it."
James heard the criticism and was not obliged when he responded on Twitter: "They contacted me. Beyond that, even smart people can have wrong opinions and insights."
At the age of 32, when he is at the end of his career, but leads Monaco as the rising power of the Euroleague, one can ask what would happen if he landed in Israel one more time?
If he would get a central stage in the Premier League, and especially think about whether he will come back?
James and Mooreman.
A house bed in France, photo: AFP
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