By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Celebrations in the locker room of AS Monaco focused on Mike James being crowned as the new scoring king of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Defeating Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet was another part of the winnings for La Roca Team on Thursday.
Dealing with a nagging back injury, Jordan Loyd was ruled out for Round 28 contest. Coming out of a joyful atmosphere, the native of Chicago talked to Meridian sport about his teammate emerging as the all-time leading scorer in the premier club continental competition of Europe.
“He is trying to be cool about it, but this is an amazing achievement,” he said, “To do something like this is incredible. You can see my water bottle empty. We had a good celebration in the locker room.”
“I am very happy for him,” added the 30-year-old shooting guard, “I think he is playing the best basketball of his career, Maybe I am a little biased because he is on my team. But no one can take it away from him. Mike deserved this.”
Beyond immense talent, James is often on the receiving end of criticism, mainly via posts on social media.
“We are close,” Loyd described his relationship with the 33-year-old combo guard, “I think he is misunderstood a lot. People who do not know him well say all sorts of things. But he is a great guy off the court. Our guys like being around him. We enjoy working and hanging out with him.”
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net