Vlado Micov on Mike James: He was like a time bomb. Now he has grown mentally

Mike James became the all-time leading scorer in the EuroLeague on the evening of 7 March, surpassing Vassilis Spanoulis. Serbian website mozzart celebrated the Monaco playmaker’s achievement and also spoke to Vlado Micov, with whom he played for Olimpia Milano in 2018-2019 season.

“With him, on the court, the collaboration was phenomenal. There were no big names at Armani at the time. Just Goudelock and me, but we had won the Scudetto. Then, the following year, he arrived”.

“A fantastic player, intelligent, an exceptional scorer. But off the court… The club supported him a lot, which I respected because he was a dominant player. He played great, but he was like a time bomb. Sometimes the smallest thing could make him go crazy”.

Years later, Sasa Obradovic called Vlado Micov for advice before signing a new contract with Monaco: “I remember the conversation well,” Micov recalls, “He called me when Mike was about to sign a new contract. He wanted to understand how to approach him, how to find a common language. We talked for more than an hour. There had simply been some bad situations in Milan that had involved him, and in the end it had created a turmoil in him”.

Things have changed over the years: “I look at him now. He has grown mentally, there is no comparison with the past. Now he plays as part of the team. He is spectacular. He has achieved great things and I congratulate him on that.