Mike James: 'I Was Essentially a Barcelona Player'
The Monaco guard opens up on his collapsed Barcelona transfer, which unravelled after Xavier Pascual's exit, and his subsequent move to Anadolu Efes.
Mike James says he had all but agreed a move to Barcelona before the deal collapsed.
That switch ran into trouble once Barcelona parted ways with head coach Xavier Pascual, and it was scrapped altogether soon after. James reacted angrily at the time and had considered legal action over the collapsed move.
"I was already essentially a Barcelona player, to be honest. But it didn't work out, it fell through, I suppose. I don't know the exact details. Right after that I went out onto the open market and tried to weigh up as many options as possible, and how teams reacted to the idea of working together. Anadolu Efes were still trying to work out the situation with Shane Larkin at that point. While they were thinking it over, I listened to other offers. But this is a big club. Winning is what makes it that," James said.
The club sit second in the LNB standings, bottom of the table after a points deduction, the fallout from their off-court troubles — the French Basketball Federation rejected Monaco's bid for a third-division licence after the club failed to meet financial guarantees. Monaco will play in an amateur league next season, leaving their squad without a professional stage for now.
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