games for the Kings as a reserve, James averaged 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds. James sat out the entire season due to a knee injury. The Kings waived James on October 20, 2000. KK Budućnost and ASVEL Villeurbanne (2000–2001) For the 2000–01 season, James played 10 games for KK Budućnost of the YUBA League with 12.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and was part of the 2001 league championship team. James later signed with ASVEL Basket of the French LNB Pro A. Competing with ASVEL in the LNB playoffs, James averaged 9.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Seattle SuperSonics (2001–2005) On September 5, 2001, James returned to the NBA and signed with the Seattle SuperSonics. In the season, James played 56 games with 40 starts and averaged 5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.4 steals and scored on 49.1% of field goal attempts. James also led the team in blocks with 86. James has averaged 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 358 career games (180 games started). James played well for the Seattle SuperSonics during the 2005 NBA playoffs, averaging 12.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 11 games against the Kings and San Antonio Spurs. New York Knicks (2005–2009) After the 2004–05 season, James signed a 5-year, $30 million free-agent contract with the Knicks on the strength of an outstanding performance in the 2005 playoffs in which he greatly exceeded his regular-season statistics. He arrived at his first training camp out of shape and in his first season he only averaged 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9 minutes per game. James missed much of the season due to injury and when he was not injured, he frequently played insignificant minutes. James was suspended on January 2, 2006 for not being prepared to practice. James is often cited as one of many questionable signings by Knicks general manager Isiah Thomas. He is also sometimes cited as an example of the "contract year phenomenon", where an athlete with impending free agency plays at a higher level than he ever has before, only to return to his normal level of play once he signs a new long-term contract. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated wrote "James was a chronic underachiever who cashed in on a brief moment of excellence". In the 2007–08 NBA season he played in only two games (January 18 and 21) for a total of