Not to mention Mike James was backing up the ironman and best playoff backcourt in the league. It is no shame to play 8-10 minutes behind Chauncey Billips deep in the playoffs. Hell, Detroit had James last year instead of Arroyo (who melted in the finals and couldn't spell Billips like James did the year before) and Detroit is in all probability going for a 3 peat. Mike James is a good NBA player. He was an excellent bench player for an outstanding Detroit team when he got his ring (and Larry Brown thanked him for his contributions). He was a good bench player and servicable starter for us, though one might argue we didn't get the right role for him--whether that was the player's fault or coaches is up to debate. And he has had an excellent season--not just productive but efficient--in starting for Toronto. Overall, we got a much lesser player with a worse contract in return, Alston has miles to go to make it a decent trade.
I think Mike James just made a Tom Cruise-esque jump from seemingly normal to bat**** crazy. During the exit interviews with the Toronto media today, he began drawing parallels of himself to Samson from the Bible. Also proclaiming that he would have been an MVP candidate if the Raptors had a better record. Claims that since he had this season with a bad team, he looks even better. Then leaves the podium quoting Allen Iverson's "We talkin' 'bout practice" rant verbatim. The dude is flat-out nuts.
Oh, he also compared himself to Jesus. And he was being completely serious. The whole thing was so awkward, that when he actually made a joke, the media just sat there with an uncomfortable silence.
LOL, I heart Mike James. I doubt he was beign serious. It's pretty obvious that he gets a kick out of making a media splash and pulling people's legs, which is why it's silly that people get worked up about his comments. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NBA/Toronto/2006/04/19/1540470-sun.html
