Mike James (basketball, born 1975)

Michael James
Born	(1975-06-23) June 23, 1975 Amityville, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player (retired)
Years active	1998–2015
Known for	NBA player; 2004 NBA champion with Detroit Pistons

Michael Lamont James (born June 23, 1975) is a retired American professional basketball athlete. Serving as a point guard, James competed collegiately for the Duquesne program. His NBA career spanned 13 seasons across 11 franchises, highlighted by securing an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 season.

College career

At Duquesne University, James distinguished himself by becoming the all-time leader in steals with 201, ranking fifth in assists with 348, and placing tenth in total points scored at 1,411. During his senior year, he earned a position on the all-Atlantic 10 Conference first team. In recognition of his contributions, Duquesne retired his jersey number 13 in February 2017.

European tenure

After going undrafted in 1998, James launched his professional journey in Europe, spending several seasons competing for teams based in France and Austria. Following numerous seasons in the NBA, he signed with Aliağa Petkim in Turkey in February 2011.

NBA tenure

James began his NBA career as a free agent with the Miami Heat during the 2001–02 campaign. Throughout his time in the league, he played for the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Hornets, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, and Dallas Mavericks, maintaining an average of 10.0 points per contest.

Detroit Pistons

As a reserve member of the Pistons’ roster, James contributed to their 2004 NBA championship victory. He teamed defensively with guard Lindsey Hunter, forming a duo known as the "Pit Bulls" due to their tenacious playing style.

Toronto Raptors

During the 2005–06 season, James started for the Raptors and achieved personal bests with averages of 20.3 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 47% from the field and an impressive 44.2% from beyond the arc.

Despite his scoring prowess and shooting accuracy, critics pointed to declines in his playmaking abilities and defensive intensity compared to his earlier "Pit Bulls" reputation. Analysts speculated that impending free agency may have influenced him to focus more on individual statistics rather than team dynamics.

That season included a career-high scoring performance of 39 points against the Detroit Pistons. Additionally, he became the first player in Raptors history to record four consecutive games scoring at least 30 points.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Following his standout season with Toronto, where he averaged a career-high 20.3 points and 5.8 assists per game, James became a highly sought-after free agent. On July 11, 2006, he agreed to a four-year contract worth $23.5 million with the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, his performance during the 2006–07 season was inconsistent, resulting in a reduction of playing time to an average of 25 minutes per game compared to 37 minutes during his peak season with Toronto.

Houston Rockets

On June 14, 2007, James was traded alongside teammate Justin Reed to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Juwan Howard.

Later stages

On February 21, 2008, James and Bonzi Wells were traded to the New Orleans Hornets in return for Bobby Jackson and Adam Haluska, concluding his second stint with Houston.

He became part of a three-team trade on December 10, 2008 involving the New Orleans Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, and Washington Wizards. James and Javaris Crittenton moved to Washington; meanwhile, Antonio Daniels joined New Orleans and Memphis acquired a conditional first-round draft pick.

The Washington Wizards reached a buyout agreement with James on March 1, 2010, waiving him after he averaged 9.3 points over 57 appearances.

Afterward, James played for the Erie Bayhawks in the NBA Development League before signing with the Chicago Bulls on January 11, 2012; however, he was released shortly thereafter on January 28. He returned via multiple consecutive 10-day contracts starting February 14 to fill in for injured star Derrick Rose, eventually securing a contract for the remainder of that season on April 4.

Following time spent with the D-League's Texas Legends, James signed a series of short-term contracts with the Dallas Mavericks beginning January 8, 2013. After two successive 10-day deals, he earned a contract for the rest of that season on January 28.

In September 2013, James re-signed with the Chicago Bulls but was waived after seven games on December 16. He then signed another 10-day contract on January 22, 2014; however, it was not extended beyond February 1. Later that year on April 10, he signed for the remainder of the season but was waived again on July 15, 2014.

Post-NBA career

On November 3, 2014, James returned to the Texas Legends roster. Later, on January 25, 2015, he achieved the Legends' inaugural triple-double of that season by tallying 21 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds during a 115–111 victory over the Delaware 87ers.

Regular season

|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Miami | 15 || 0 || 7.9 || .349 || .381 || .571 || .9 || 1.3 || .4 || .1 || 2.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Miami | 78 || 8 || 22.1 || .373 || .294 || .732 || 1.9 || 3.2 || .8 || .1 || 7.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Boston | 55 || 55 || 30.6 || .418 || .381 || .800 || 3.2 || 4.4 || 1.3 || .0 || 10.7 |- |style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| † | align="left" | Detroit | 26 || 0 || 19.7 || .401 || .364 || .844 || 2.2 || 3.7 || 1.0 || .0 || 6.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Milwaukee | 47 || 0 || 24.8 || .446 || .382 || .744 || 2.6 || 3.9 || .9 || .1 || 11.4 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Houston | 27 || 5 || 25.6 || .433 || .393 || .764 || 3.2 || 2.9 || .9 || .1 || 12.4 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Toronto | 79 || 79 || 37.0 || .469 || .442 || .837 || 3.3 || 5.8 || .9|| .0|| 20.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Minnesota | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82*||65||25.2||.422||.372||.837||2.0||3.6||.7||.1||10.1 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Houston |33||1||16.3||.350||.324||.786||1.6||1.6||.5||.1||6.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New Orleans |21||0||8.7||.344||.304||1.000||.8||.3||.2||.0||2.7 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New Orleans |8||0||9.3||.320||.750||.500||.9||1.0||.3||.0||2.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Washington |53||50||29.7||.387||.367||.838||2.4||3.6||.8||.1||9.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Washington |4||0||11.5||.300||.333||.500||.8||1.3||.8||0|||4.5 |- |- |align=left | |- |align=left |2011–12 Chicago Bulls season |- |11 |- |0 |- |10.9 |- |0 |- |2 |- |6 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-

|- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2 style=text-align:center; | Career !595!!286!!24.!417!!379!!802!!2.!35!!.!8!!.!1!!9.!9

Playoffs

|- |style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| 2004† | align="left" | Detroit | 22 || 0 || 8.9 || .396 || .429 || .563 || 1..2 || 1..1 ||=..2 ||=..0 ||=2..6 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-

Personal life

James and his spouse, Angela, are parents to four daughters: Jadon Miciah (born 2000), Amaya Noel (born 2003), Michal Mikayla (born 2007), and McKinley Joel (born 2008). The entire family was featured in a 2008 installment of ABC's Supernanny.