Mike James and his Italian days / News - Basketnews.com

Last week, Mike James made history, becoming the top scorer in EuroLeague. Through the years, the American point guard cemented his legacy as one of the best American players to ever play in the European environment. Looking back at the beginning of his career, not a lot of people remember that James gained positive momentum by playing in the Italian third-division.

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Last week,Mike Jamesofficially entered EuroLeague basketball history, becoming the top scorer in the competition's history, surpassingthe previous record of Vassilis Spanoulis.

Mike James

MIN:31.53PTS:19.34 (52.61%)REB:4.31As:5.14ST:1.21BL:0TO:2.03GM:29ProfileEuroLeague2023/2024

EuroLeague rightly celebrated James' milestone, and today, it is almost impossible to find anyone who does not recognize the American player's talent and the impact he has had on European basketball since his arrival on the old continent.

Despite his impressive numbers and a career among the best ever seen for an American player in Europe, James' experience in Europe has not always been so exciting.

Life in Europe can be quite complex for a rookie coming out of college, and Mike James was no different.

Despite the strong numbers in the last two years of college at Lamar, James did not receive much interest from the NBA and was not selected in the draft.

But even in Europe, few teams were interested in him, and certainly not top-tier.

The first real turning point in Mike James' European career came in Italy. In his second year in Europe, James signed a 1-year contract with Paffoni Omegna, a small club that, in the 2013-14 season, was playing in the third tier of Italian basketball.

After a relatively difficult first year, James wanted to find a grain of stability, and the proposal from Italy was the best one he had on his plate.

The team's coach that season, Giampaolo Di Lorenzo, had sent several names for Lorenzi to look at, and the then-team manager was almost immediately impressed by James' talent.

"He had the desire to compete that was off the charts," Lorenzi recalled in an interview with Il Foglio.

James immediately had a huge impact on the team, quickly becoming the league's top scorer.

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"Mike was a workaholic. He used to take notes on his smartphone during the video sessions with the coach and then go over all the material in his room," Lorenzi explained to Il Foglio.

James finished that season in the Italian third division, averaging 23 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 2 steals per game.

Omegna reached the fourth spot in the table at the end of the regular season but was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the playoffs.

During the regular season, James received a disciplinary sanction from the club after refusing to enter with one minute left in a game against Florence.

The situation did not particularly escalate. James apologized for the gesture, and the team owner was sympathetic to the American player.

At the end of the season in Italy, James started to receive interest from other countries, including Greece.

He received a very interesting proposal from Kolossos Rodi, and he thought it was the best opportunity for him moving forward.

In his contract with Omegna, there was an option to extend the contract for another year, but the player had his mind already set on Greece and decided to pay the money to get out of the deal.

"He really wanted to go to Greece, so he decided to pay the release clause in the contract personally," Fabrizio Lorenzi, the former team manager of Omegna, explained to Il Foglio.

"But he didn't have the entire amount. The opt-out clause was worth

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