With every win that highlights his talent and erases criticism to the player who wants to do “too much”, Mike James reinforces his status as a legitimate MVP candidate of this EuroLeague or at least as a member of the All-EuroLeague first team. In a recent EuroLeague survey among general managers and sports director, James collected 25% of the preferences as the most spectacular player; 12.5% ​​as the player having a breakout season (relative but important: he is doing better than expected); 31.2% as the most “clutch” player. With 10 rounds to go in the regular season, his play seemed to be heading towards historical boundaries. The game against Zalgiris was his eleventh with at least 20 points scored; the twentieth out of twenty in which he scored in double figures (the streak reached 27); the twentieth out of twenty with at least one three made (the streak has reached 24); the twentieth out of twenty with at least five assists (the streak reached 21).

But that’s not only part of the story: Mike James is currently the EuroLeague’s top scorer with a five points per game margin over the second-best, Will Clyburn. During the course of the EuroLeague history no player has ever won the scorers and assist crowns at the same time. Lynn Greer, when he played in Poland, was once first in scoring and second in assists; only once again the top-scorer finished in the top five in assists. It is going to be difficult for James to overtake the leader Nick Calathes, who precedes him by 0.8 assists per game, but the possibility exists. Theoretically, MJ could even get the triple crown of being first in points, assists and index rating where he is now very close to the leader Jan Vesely. And with the four steals that he had against the Zalgiris he rose to number three in the league also for steals.

Here is the video of his game against Zalgiris

 

TOP SCORER AND BEST PASSER?