June 16, 2004

Mike James (1995-98) became the fifth former Duquesne University men's basketball player to earn an NBA World Championship ring when he helped the Detroit Pistons to a 100-87 win over the Los Angeles Lakers last night in the NBA Finals.

James, who just completed his third NBA season, was traded from the Boston Celtics to the Pistons on February 19. He averaged just under nine minutes per game in 22 of a possible 23 playoff games at Detroit. For the season, James played in 81 games for both the Celtics and Pistons. He averaged 3.7 assists in 19.7 minutes of 26 regular-season games for Detroit.

James joins former Dukes Jim Tucker (1955 Syracuse Nationals), Sihugo Green (1966 Boston Celtics), Bill Zopf (1971 Milwaukee Bucks) and Norm Nixon (1980 & 1982 Los Angeles Lakers) on the NBA Championship list.

James is the second Duke to earn a championship ring in the past year. Former Duquesne women's basketball standout Korie Hlede was an assistant coach for the 2003 WNBA champion Detroit Shock.