US point guard James sets new EuroLeague points record

March 8, 2024 10:22 AM

American point guard Mike James grabbed a slice of basketball history on Thursday when he became the leading scorer in the EuroLeague.

The 33-year-old, who plays for Monaco, needed just 12 points in the game against Red Star Belgrade, to surpass the 4,455 points scored by Greek Vasilios Spanoulis between 2005 and 2021.

James, watched by his parents and friends who had travelled over from the US, comfortably achieved his goal before half-time.

By the end of the night, he took his total to 4,464 points as Monaco defeated their Serbian rivals 98-80 for a seventh successive win in the tournament.

"I will be able to savour all of this at the end of my career," said James who has played with 12 clubs in his career across Europe and the NBA.

"I didn't want it to get too emotional, because we had to focus on the victory, otherwise it wouldn't have had the same flavour."