One-on-One with Dallas Mavericks Point Guard Mike James

Mike James has always taken the toughest road to success. Photo credit MavsMoneyBall.com

Mike James is a frequent traveler of tough roads. Before making it to the NBA in 2001 with the Miami Heat, James had thee years under his belt as a professional basketball player overseas and a few games with the Rockford Lightning of the CBA.

Once James made it the NBA, he has played for nine different franchises in eight seasons. He had his best season in 2005-06 with the Toronto Raptors when he averaged 20.3 points per game. 2013 finds James at the end of another unexpected NBA season with another franchise. He started this year at home with his wife and four daughters wanting for a call from someone. Dallas was that team.

Mike James tries to explain what happened in loss to OKC Thunder; Plus Dirk, Mayo, and Marion react

We caught up with Mike James after the Dallas Mavericks loss to OKC Thunder in OT 117-114. James had the ball in the final seconds, but took a long 3 instead passing to Dirk or anyone else with time left on the clock.

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MAVERICKS SIGN FREE AGENT MIKE JAMES TO 10-DAY CONTRACT

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent guard Mike James to a 10-day contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

James (6-2, 188) is a 10-year veteran and has played in 539 games (263 starts) with Miami, Boston, Detroit,Milwaukee, Houston, Toronto, Minnesota, New Orleans, Washington and Chicago. He holds career averages of 10.4 points, 3.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 24.9 minutes per game.

James spent his most successful season as a professional with the Toronto Raptors where, in 2005-06, he averaged 20.3 points and 5.8 assists while starting 79 games. In 2011-12, James played in 11 games for the Chicago Bulls. He averaged 4.8 points, 2.6 assists and 10.9 minutes while helping to carry the load at point guard for an injured Derrick Rose.

Most recently, James played in two games with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League. He averaged 18.5 points, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals in 34.0 minutes per contest.

The Copiague, N.Y., native played collegiately at Duquesne where he was All-Atlantic 10 as a senior before going undrafted in the 1998 NBA Draft.

The Mavericks roster now stands at 15.

© 2013 Dallas Mavericks