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Nuotr .: AFP – Scanpix
Mike James returned to the NBA after a layoff of more than three years, and following his debut for the Brooklyn Nets, the defender spoke about the conflict with CSKA Moscow coach Dimitri Itoudis, the familiar faces on the team. and why he returned to the NBA. .
Man of the match | |
EFF 22 |
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Joe harris |
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Points |
twenty |
Precision |
6-12 |
Bounces |
4 |
Effective transfers |
3 |
The 30-year-old and 185 cm tall player debuted in a victorious duel with the Boston Celtics and scored 8 points (2/7 doubles, 1/1 trit., 1/2 penalties) in 21 minutes, bounced 2 balls and Made 2 assists.
James met the team after the game at Barclays Center. He signed a 10-day contract with Nets.
“It’s normal for me to play in the player position, I’ve been playing in this position for almost my entire career. I tried to learn the combinations and speed up the movement of the ball, to feel what feels best, James told reporters after the game. – We did not have training or games, so you just have to feel it. I tried to play aggressively and for my teammates and find free throws for myself. I had good and bad episodes. “
How did he and Nets coach Steve Nash meet?
“To get ready and warm up, I played three against three before the game. Steve came to us and obviously he didn’t have to introduce himself as me. He just said what he wanted from me in today’s game, asked to be aggressive and help the team, “James said.
James’s comment after the game:
He met many family leaders on the Nets team. Assistant coach Ime Udoka, like James, grew up in Portland, and James has known him since he was 16 years old.
James said he had known Kevin Durant since the age of five because he got along well with his brother and that he had met Kyrie Irving and James Harden earlier in the summer.
“I can’t say we were best friends or very close to anyone, but we’ve already met a few,” James said.
The athlete made his NBA debut in the 2017-2018 season, when he played 36 games for the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans and averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 assists per game.
James was asked why he returned to the NBA only three years later.
“I wasn’t sure I wanted to play in the NBA again,” James said. – I received a good salary in Europe, I enjoyed playing many minutes, I had the role of star. Over the years, I no longer wanted to carry that kind of responsibility on my shoulders in every game. You better play 21 minutes a game, don’t be a key player and just help. I thought I could shine in that opportunity. “
Episodes of James in the debut match:
The basketball player has also been asked about disagreements with coaches in Europe over the past two years.
In 2019, he was fired by the Milan Armani Exchange, which was later acquired by Ettore Messina. From then until March this year, James played for CSKA in Moscow, but was eventually suspended due to a conflict with head coach Dimitri Itoudis.
“Messina got a job in Milan, we talked on the phone all summer and one day he wrote me an email informing me that I should find another team. He became the new coach of the team and it just happened, I don’t know why he decided.
For Itoudis, something happened in my personal life. The events just didn’t go well, so I had to deal with that. We had a little conflict. I would not say that I had a conflict as a basketball player, rather as a man. The two people had a conflict off the basketball court. “
In 2020, James signed a three-year contract with CSKA. Under the agreement with CSKA, at the end of 2020-2021. season, James will once again be considered a basketball player for the CSKA team.
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