By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Mike James of AS Monaco delivered a simple and clear response to the owner of Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv, Ofer Yannay, claiming he constantly contacted head coach Dimitris Itoudis to express his interest in joining the Israeli club.
Following the appearance of Yannay on The Baseline Podcast, the 34-year-old combo guard was asked via a post on X whether such a case is true.
“No”, he replied.
No
— Mike James (@TheNatural_05) July 23, 2025
The Portland native is under contract with Monaco until the end of the 2026-27 season and was recently fully reinstated following a team suspension, heading to the 2025-26 season.
James is a veteran of 323 appearances in the EuroLeague. A long career in Europe’s premier club continental competition is highlighted by being named Most Valuable Player of the 2023-24 season, in addition to receiving the Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy for the 2018-19 season. He is also a member of the All-25 EuroLeague Team. Since joining Monaco in 2021, he entered the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2022 and 2024, and also upped his total of Second-Team nods to three, from 2019 to 2023 and 2025, besides celebrating back-to-back Betclic Elite championships in 2023 and 2024.
The 2024-25 journey reached the championship game of the Final Four in Abu Dhabi, amounting to 15.9 points, 5.8 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per EuroLeague contest over 41 appearances, all starts. At the domestic level, the former Lamar standout averaged 15.0 points, 3.9 assists, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game over 22 appearances.