Mike James can write Turkish Airlines EuroLeague history in golden letters when his team AS Monaco (16-10) visits FC Barcelona (18-8) at Palau Blaugrana in Round 27.
Mike James and Monaco aim to make history in Barcelona
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A shot at the scoring record
James enters Round 27 with 4,427 career points, which places him second on the all-time list behind only three-time EuroLeague champion and Final Four MVP Vassilis Spanoulis, who still leads the standings with 4,455 points. James needs 29 points to pass Spanoulis and become the competition's all-time scoring king. Hehas scored at least 29 points 13 times in his 269-game career, which is roughly once every 20 games. His last game with as many points was with Monaco against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens on February 1, 2022. He led Monaco to an 83-91 road win that night with exactly 29 points.
How has James played against Barça over the years? Not particularly well. Earlier this season, he had 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a PIR of 23 in a 91-71 home victory. In 16 games against Barça, James has averaged 13.3 points on 18-for-72 three-point shooting (25.0% 3FG) and a PIR of 13.0. He never scored more than 20 points against Barça and had arguably one of the worst games of his career against them with 2 points and a PIR of -8 in a 72-57 loss with Panathinaikos at Palau Blaugrana. James will need his best-ever game against Barça in order to break the scoring record in Round 27.
The scoring record: a chronology
Several players have led the competition in scoring over the years. The late Alphonso Ford was the first leader, scoring 35 points in his first-ever game in the competition. Ford did not stop filling the baskets in the first three years of the competition, tallying 1,200 points in 54 games for an all-time best scoring average of 22.2. Due to playing more games, Gregor Fucka was the competition's top scorer after the 2000-01 season with 335 points, followed by Manu Ginobili (334). Ford was the next leader until Marcus Brown passed him late in the 2003-04 campaign. Luis Scola overtook Brown during the 2006-07 season but when Scola went to the NBA, Brown regained the scoring throne.
After Brown retired, Juan Carlos Navarro claimed the scoring crown on November 24, 2011, when he scored his 2,740th point with FC Barcelona against Union Olimpija Ljubljana. Navarro pushed the scoring record to 4,152 points. The EuroLeague format change allowed players to take part in more games, and it was only a matter of time before Vassilis Spanoulis overtook him, which happened on January 2, 2020, in a game between Olympiacos Piraeus and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. Now James is set to take over with Nando De Colo (4,383 points) not far behind.
Ricky's potential comeback, and much more
The word out there is that Ricky Rubio may return to the EuroLeague against Monaco. If he does, Rubio will be back to the competition 4,720 days after his last game: that is 12 years, 11 months and 2 days since Barça lost Game 4 of the 2011 playoffs against Panathinaikos. Rubio left as arguably one of the most interesting prospects in basketball: a EuroLeague, EuroCup and EuroBasket champion, as well as an Olympic silver medalist, who played a major role in all competitions before he turned 21 years old. If he plays, Rubio may match up with James in what already is a game to remember for both players, for different reasons.
There is much more to this game, of course. One of the best offensive players at the '4' position, Jabari Parker of Barça, goes against EuroLeague Best Defender candidate John Brown. Monaco has other good scoring options in its backcourt such as Elie Okobo, Kemba Walker and Jordan Loyd, who could benefit from James being double-teamed. Barça has firepower with Alex Abrines back in action, joining Dario Brizuela and Nico Laprovittola. Even if Rubio remains unavailable, Coach Roger Grimau can count on Tomas Satoransky as his team's floor general and defensive anchor. Jan Vesely and Willy Hernangomez combined for 10 points in Monaco, and they should be ready for a bounce-back performance against Donta Hall, Donatas Motiejunas and Mam Jaiteh.
Put it all together and you get one of the most highly anticipated regular season games in recent years. Tune in at 20:30 on Friday and enjoy the show!