Why EuroLeague’s GOAT Scorer Failed In The NBA

Mike James just became the EuroLeague's all time leading scorer. Mike James is the greatest american player to ever play overseas, but why did Mike James fail in the NBA? What happened to Mike James in the NBA and why is the EuroLeague's GOAT scorer not on an NBA team? The Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns all waived Mike James. But why?

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#euroleague #nba #basketball #mikejames

Gullible

[DKM_Sports]

Watch EuroLeague Games Live Here For Free

[johnvaughan]

He is, in no universe, reality, dimension or imagination, better than Steph Curry. It is an absurd, flabbergasting and disrespectful comparison. It’s not even close.

[Razzlekhan-tq]

The guy who just did a between-the-legs dunk is unathletic. Then wtf am I

[KT-pbgf]

Him calling Steph one dimensional reeks of jealousy

[phillycezaarr]

Ppl laughed at Luka bc they didn’t understand him, he was saying it’s easier to score bc there’s more spacing and you can’t camp in the paint bc of the 3 sec rule, which I think they should get rid of. But bc of the talent in the NBA it’s a lot harder to double team and leave others open bc everyone can shoot.

[soloro]

NBA Champions should play against Europe Champions every year

[SunsMD]

I watched Mike James progressively lose his spot in the rotation during a Suns' tanking season. He was a chucker. He dominated the ball, took bad shots, and didn't play defense. His style of play did not help young players improve, and he certainly wasn't a leader. That team was a dumpster fire, and he still got himself waived.

[Kill_Bill_]

If the NBA tripled the length of its regular season, and someone then broke LeBron's scoring record, videos talking about it would definitely point that out and also how no one really cares about the record anymore because of that. It's the same case here with this record for EuroLeague and that should have been explained in the video.

The video didn't make clear the difference in the amount of games the league plays. They just said he did it in less games than Spanoulis, which is true. What they left out is the regular season was 10 games long during almost all of the career of Spanoulis, while it is 34 games long during almost all of the career of James. So if they did not extend the regular season, it would have taken James many more years to come near the record, no matter what his average was, because he never would have made it to enough games played to break the record. Because when the regular season was 10 games long (Spanoulis era), you couldn't play more games unless your team advanced and James played on plenty of teams that weren't any good and would not have advanced.

James is guaranteed at least 34 games every season now. So basically, if the regular season had not been extended, the chance that James would have ever broken this scoring record was virtually 0%. It was only broken because they changed the league's format and games played rules. The video really should have specified that. Since the league changed the regular season from 10 games to 34 games, the truth is no one in Europe really cares about the EuroLeague records anymore, as they are all being broken, just because of the change in games played. The video made it seem like this record was a big deal, but in reality, no one cares, and the EuroLeague records have lost all meaning because of that change to the number of games played.

[SliteKonto]

If he was so good as you’re riding for him, he would’ve been more efficient in the NBA. Not to mention fred is better defensively which why he’s still here. I’m all for having your opinion but let’s relax on the he’d do a b and c when he got the opportunity multiple times and didn’t do it.

[A.Wojnarowski]

No offense, Mike James is a very good scorer, but he has no business in Euroleague GOAT convo. One-dimensional, pure scorer, with zero titles (or even final appearences). He has a lot worse case than LBJ as NBA GOAT. Modern Euroleague GOAT status goes currently between Saras or Kill Bill.

[daarkengeist]

"he can't defend and isn't efficient but he's better than most of the NBA"
Ok sure.

[Kill_Bill_]

Just to clarify, Mike James was never the Greek League MVP. He was the Greek League finals MVP 2 times, but never the overall league MVP. Also, as far as Mike James being the EuroLeague GOAT if he wins 1 EuroLeague championship...no. No disrespect to Mike James at all, as he is a really, really good EuroLeague player.

But there is no way he is even remotely close to being in the EuroLeague GOAT discussion with winning just 1 EuroLeague championship, if he is able to do so at some point. That does not even put him in the GOAT conversation at all. 1 EuroLeague title is nowhere near enough to be compared to modern EuroLeague players like:

Vassilis Spanoulis
Dejan Bodiroga
Dimitris Diamantidis
Sarunas Jasikevicius

or also guys like:

Juan Carlos Navarro
Antoine Rigaudeau
Theo Papaloukas
Vasilje Micic
Nando De Colo
Ramunas Siskauskas

If he won 1 EuroLeague title, James is still far away from Spanoulis for the GOAT discussions (not even close), or also Bodiroga, or also Diamantidis and Jasikevicius. In all honesty, Mike James isn't even as high on the EuroLeague GOAT ladder as players like:

Sergio Llull
Milos Teodosic
Anthony Parker
Sergio Rodriguez

Then you have FIBA era EuroLeague players, and also Mike James is not as high as many of them for GOAT discussions either, like:

Janis Krumins
Emiliano Rodriguez
Clifford Luyk
Sergey Belov
Wayne Brabender
Bob Morse
Manolo Raga
Dino Meneghin
Walter Szczerbiak
Miki Berkovich
Antonello Riva
Epi
Drazen Petrovic
Bob McAdoo
Nikos Galis
Dino Radja
Toni Kukoc
Sasha Danilovic
Sasha Djordjevic
Panagiotis Giannakis
Arvydas Sabonis

This doesn't even mention players like:

Radivoj Korac
Drazen Dalipagic
Kresmir Cosic
Mirza Delibasic
Dragan Kicanovic
Ivo Daneu
Zarko Paspalj
Ibrahim Kutluay
Carlton Myers
Petar Naumoski
Nikos Oikonomou
Zeljko Rebraca

etc.

If we limit it to JUST American players, even then Mike James is not the GOAT American EuroLeague player. As players like:

Anthony Parker
Shane Larkin

would be higher than him on the EuroLeague GOAT ladder for modern players, with guys like:

Alphonso Ford
Mike Batiste
Trajan Langdon
Kyle Hines
JR Holden

also in such a discussion.

If we include the FIBA era Americans, then Mike James is also behind a whole bunch of other Americans on the GOAT ladder, like:

Clifford Luyk
Wayne Brabender
Bob Morse
Walt Szczerbiak
Tal Brody
Lou Silver
Jim Boatwright
Audie Norris
Nikos Galis
Joe Arlauckas
David Rivers
Tyus Edney

In all honesty, while Mike James has had a really good EuroLeague career, he's not even remotely close to being in the EuroLeague GOAT discussion right now. Maybe IF he wins the EuroLeague MVP this season, AND the EuroLeague championship AND EuroLeague Final Four MVP this season, THEN maybe we can talk about maybe putting him in EuroLeague Top 30 all-time discussions.

It's actually insulting and outrageous to so many previous EuroLeague great players that all of these Mike James EuroLeague GOAT videos are popping up everywhere. If we put it in terms of an NBA equivalency, putting Mike James in the EuroLeague GOAT conversation is basically the equivalent of saying Demar Derozan is in the NBA GOAT conversation.

[sammith]

Calling Curry one dimensional is kinda funny, seeing that all this guy can do is score. Doesn’t draw the defense’s attention like Steph and could never move off the ball like Steph. Curry’s passing is a little underrated as well as his ability to finish at the rim. “Better than Curry” stawp it 🙄

[dontaviusharvey]

My guy said he’s an undersized, un-athletic guard… proceeds to show Mike James insane athleticism and bounce

[ncm]

Oh dear god. Mike James averaged 21 minutes a game in 32 games with the phx suns in his rookie year, that year he averaged 10.2 ppg 3.8 apg, 2.8 reb, and 1.5 tov, pretty solid numbers... until we get to his shooting splits, 38.8% on 9.8 fga, 26.8% on 3 3pa, and 76.2% on 2.6 fta. Usually rookies don't shoot very well so their FT% is usually a better indicator for their shooting ability. 76.2% isn't horrible but not outstanding either.

In his second year he played just 4 games with the pels so nothing to really see there.

In his third and FINAL year he played 18.2 mpg in 13 games with the bkn nets. He averaged 37% on 7.1 fga and 35.5% on 2.4 3pa, which isn't bad from 3 but horrendous from the field. Doesn't help that he averaged damn near the same amount of points as field goal attempts with 7.7ppg on 7.1 fga. Not to mention his plus minus was always a negative in all 3 seasons.

Truth is, if he was really as good as this video and he says he is, then he would've been on a NBA roster in 2024. To compare him to Curry or even a good NBA roleplayer as of right now is blasphemy.

[lazywallstreetnews]

From the tape, his playing style can best be described as ‘What if LiAngelo Ball hadn’t tried to steal from that store in China and developed properly?’

[BigTeletubby]

He’s a 6’1” ball dominant guard who relies on making tough shots against less athletic defenders in Euro that’s really it

[JohnDoe]

@1:14 that was real lame to put Kemba's picture there. He blew his knee out and was no longer in the NBA because of injuries. So putting his picture there was a horrible example.

[Bkhouma]

This is how I find out Mike James went to my highschool😂

[jackslammer]

To answer your final question... My answer is no, I would not go back to the NBA.

When you cross the age of 30, you start to gain better perspective on life, and start to see things for what they are and not what you want them to be.

If I went to the NBA and was treated like I was expendable, but I had an opportunity in Europe to cement a legacy, while earning MORE MONEY than I would in the NBA. I'm staying in Europe.