Mike James is one of Portland’s best kept secrets..at least he used to be. The super athletic and savvy baller cemented his name as one of the 503’s best with his play over the summer.

503tv was lucky enough to get some of his time to answer a few questions.

503tv: For those that aren’t familiar with you can you share your basketball resume with us?

Mike:  Umm i don’t know if you can say i have a basketball resume yet but 2008 6A state basketball champion with grant, two time 1st team all region and conference at Eastern Arizona College, rated the 33rd best player in junior college by rivals, hold the record at Lamar University for points in a game with 52 and 3s in a game with 11, MVP of the Southland conference tournament, 1st team all Southland conference, NCAA tournament bid 2012, played in Croatia and Israel my first professional year and now i’m currently in Italy.

503tv: Coming up in Portland what local hooper/s did you admire and watch closest?

Mike: When i was growing up in Portland i liked a couple of players. Of course i liked the obvious Dennis Nathan, Freddy Jones, Brandon Brooks, Aaron Miles but i also always looked up to Mac Hopson and Dominic Waters a lot too. I feel like Mac and Dom both being closer to me in age and both going on to have success at Division 1 programs and then going to be successful and still are successful professionally was big for me to watch growing up and still be able to hit them up and talk to them whenever i need to.

503tv: Many feel that your game is currently “NBA Ready” but can you tell us one part of your game that you’re currently working to improve on?

Mike: One thing about sports is that everybody is an expert, even though i appreciate the love and respect i get now, i also put it into perspective and know that really the opinions of my peers really don’t matter until a GM takes a chance on me. To answer what i’m working on at the moment is definitely my point guard abilities. Being able to score like i can sometimes i use that as a crutch not to get my teammates involved as much as i should so i’m definitely trying to refine that part of my game. I also watch a lot of film on PGs and what they do in certain situations and little tricks that they do.

503tv: How has your experience been living and playing overseas? What do you like most? What do you like least?

Mike: My experience overseas has definitely had its ups and downs but i like it overall. I think the part i struggle with is staying motivated when i can’t see my friends and my family not being close to my daughter then i look on TV and watch NBA games and i feel like I’m good enough to play there so it gets discouraging at times but all in all I like it and just being able to experience a different way of life is a blessing.

503tv: You had a stand out summer dominating in leagues all over the Northwest including Jamal Crawford’s in Seattle.  What was your most memorable basketball moment of the summer?

Mike:This summer was a big summer for me as far as showcasing my abilities to the city. I think not having the chance to shine as much in high school and leaving for college a lot of people in Portland knew i was good but they never knew how good i was so playing in all these events and performing how i did definitely created a positive buzz. I have a few memorable moments this summer, obviously playing against all the NBA players Seattle has to offer and competing against them showed me how far along i am and what i have to work on, But i think the 503 vs 206 game at PCC was my favorite moment. All the lights were on, the whole city was there and it was a packed gym and them is the kind of games you live for.

503tv: Is there a message that you’d like to share with your supporters in the Rose City?

Mike: Support Portland people and the people that are trying to do something positive with their lives. We have been known as crabs in a barrel for too long. We need to rise up as a community and push forward or we will keep having the same things happen to us. We get one or two people who make it every 5 years and they never want to come back because the whole city hated on them when they were coming up. As for me, If i ever do make it, its with the city in my heart and on my back.

As you can see the man has a great head on his shoulders and is very self-aware. He has the physical and mental traits to make it to the top, let’s make sure he has the home town love to go with it. Check out his highlights below.