League Liga ACBEuroleague NBA draft 2012 / Undrafted Weight 86 kg Nationality American Name Mike James | Listed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Role Basketball Player Listed weight 185 lb (84 kg) Height 1.88 m | |
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Number 5 (Lamar Cardinals Men's Basketball / Guard) Similar People Darius Adams, Tic Price, Pat Knight | ||
Michael Perry James (born August 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Suns' NBA G League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns. He was a high school basketball standout playing for Grant High School in Portland, and played college basketball for Eastern Arizona College and Lamar University.
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Early life
James, the son of Lisa Behrndt, was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. While in Portland, he played basketball for Grant High School under coach Tony Broadous. In 2007–08, as a senior, he was ranked the No. 3 Player in the state and No. 184 overall. He was also only recruited by Division III universities at the time. James averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals per game. The team went on to win the 2008 Oregon state championship.
Eastern Arizona College
James started his college career at Eastern Arizona College, a national junior college where he played under coach Maurice Leitzke. In his first year, he averaged 20 points per game shooting 42 percent overall, 33.3 percent from three-point range and 78 percent free throws. He was named all-conference and all-region teams as well as being ranked No. 40 best junior college player by Rivals.com. As a sophomore, he was the fourth leading scorer in the NJCAA Division I recording 26 points per game. In addition he contributed 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Lamar University
In 2010, James transferred to an NCAA Division I school, Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Here he played under coach Steve Roccaforte in 2010–11 and under coach Pat Knight for the 2011–12 NCAA season. Playing a little over 18 minutes a game, he averaged 12.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals. He led the team in scoring, even though he only started two out of twenty-four games for the season. He included a 52-point game on January 4, 2011 against Louisiana College, which Lamar Cardinals won 114–62, breaking the previous record of 50 set by Mike Oliver in 1980. In addition, he broke Lamar University's Montagne Center record for most points scored in a single game with 52, field goals made with 18, field goal attempts with 35, three-pointers made with 11 and three-pointer attempts with 21. In his senior season (2011–12), he averaged 17.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.6 steals per game shooting 45.3 percent overall. One notable game of his was against the 2012 NCAA champion University of Kentucky, where he scored 29 points. His senior season ended in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament with a loss against Vermont. By the end of his season, he was named All-Southland First Team, Southland Tournament MVP and Southland Conference Player of the Week three times in four weeks. He had majored in general studies during his time there.
Professional career
In August 2012, James signed with Zagreb of Croatia for the 2012–13 season. In December 2012, he left Zagreb. In February 2013, he signed with Hapoel Gilboa Galil of Israel for the rest of the season.
In July 2013, James signed with Paffoni Omegna of Italy for the 2013–14 season.
In August 2014, James signed a one-year contract with Kolossos Rodou of Greece. On December 2, 2014, he left Kolossos and signed with the Spanish club Laboral Kutxa Baskonia for the rest of the season.
In July 2015, James joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2015 NBA Summer League. That same month, re-signed with Baskonia for one more season.
On July 3, 2016, James signed with Panathinaikos Athens for the 2016–17 season. He helped Panathinaikos win both the Greek Cup title and the Greek Basket League championship in the 2016–17 season. He was later named the Greek Basket League Most Spectacular Player that year as well.
On July 3, 2017, James signed with the Phoenix Suns and joined the team for the 2017 NBA Summer League. In the 2017 Summer League, he led the team in points and assists, averaging 20.5 points off of 53.8% shooting and 5.0 assists per game, as well as record 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 33.2 minutes per game for the six games the Suns played during the event. James' contract with the team is a two-way affiliate deal, their first in franchise history. He also became the first player to sign a two-way contract in the NBA after spending multiple years overseas in international leagues.
Career statistics
Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.