By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow announced that star guard Mike James is staying with the club and will be returning to practices following his suspension. James may play in the upcoming VTB League game of his team against Zielona Gora Monday (1/2).
James issued the following statement on the incident that took place and led to his suspension:
“On January 8th my grandpa passed away as a result of Lung cancer. Since that moment my personal life has gone up and down and a lot of changes have happened. Unfortunately that has spilled into my professional life and a lot of misunderstandings about the club and I have come out into the media. First I would like to say that this issue is very close to me and is not information I would like in the media. Second I would also like to say there is some ways to handle to things and I didn’t handle everything in this situation the best way possible for myself or the club which I represent. For that reason I’m here to apologize and say the attention that this has caused and the distraction is not the way I would like my grandpa to be remembered or talked about. CSKA and I will work through this internally and work through this as a group. I would respect people to leave this as a thing in the past. I appreciate all the well wishes towards my family and thank you for all the concern.”
CSKA Moscow president Andrey Vatutin said the following, per the club: “We had certain problems, but I don’t want to talk about them in details now, this is our internal affair. It took a lot of time to sort things out and listen to everyone. After returning from Berlin, we gathered as a team and talked frankly, tried to find a professional solution for the sake of common interests. There was no easy way out of this situation, and we, with the coaching staff and the team, chose a path that implies a lot of joint work – and this is natural for a high-level sports team. It is clear that assessments can only be made over time. But we are united in this decision, and this is very important for me. I hope that everything will work out and we will grow as a team. Mike remains part of our team, we move on together.”