We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with a totally serious theory (OK, not really) of how some classic John Hughes movies foretold the rise and fall of the Chicago Bulls.
The holiday season is in full swing with Christmas this week, and since that coincides with summertime here in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s also come to be known as our “silly season“. Therefore, in the spirit of the season, I’m mixing Monday Tip-Off with JaoSming’s old column, Dumb Mondays (what is this, a crossover episode?!?). This silly, light-hearted, Christmas-related topic is one that I’ve actually been sitting on for years, so it’s time to put it out there for some holiday cheer. Don’t worry; everything will be back to normal next week!
As a 90s kid, I can’t help but associate the movies of the late, great John Hughes with Christmas and the holidays. That’s chiefly due to Planes, Trains and Automobiles – a film set at Thanksgiving – and the first two Home Alone movies, two classics that take place at Christmas and are very near and dear to my generation. It only makes sense to reflect on those films and watch them again during the holiday season, but what do those iconic John Hughes movies have to do with the Chicago Bulls dynasty? Well, some years back, a Forum post prompted me to draw comparisons between the plots of those films, and the rise and eventual fall of the Bulls. Strap in, we’re getting silly!
Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.
Christmas is still a few days away, but the NLSC Top 10 Plays is here to deliver some early stocking stuffers! Indeed, there’s quite a lot of “stuffing” going on, as this week’s countdown once again showcases a variety of spectacular slams. As always though, while dunks are king, it’s also about the moves that set them up. To that end, you’ll seem some crafty stick skills leaving defenders reeling before being put on a poster. Eight games are on display in this festive edition of the Top 10, from NBA Live 95 through to NBA 2K25. Let’s get to the action!
What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.
Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is another list of five teammates who were once traded for each other, and the video games that feature those stints.
When I posted my previous Friday Five recalling five teammates who had once been traded for each other, I mentioned that there was an example that I cut after being reminded of a pairing that I definitely couldn’t leave out the first time around. Since I hate to waste any writing and research, I kept that example aside, with the intention of revisiting the topic. It actually didn’t take too long to find four more examples of players who became teammates after being traded for one another, and as such, the time has come to follow up with a new instalment.
As I’ve often said, I love roster trivia like this! It’s fascinating to trawl through NBA history to find interesting trades, unique lineups, and other unusual events, including phantom stints, and familiar faces in strange places and back in familiar places alike. I look at them through the lens of the virtual hardwood, not only because it’s the focus of our content here at the NLSC, but also because as I like to say, basketball video games are interactive almanacs. I had to search beyond the obvious games to find virtual representation of a couple of these pairings, but that’s all part of the fun! And so, let’s tip things off with the pair of players that were cut from the previous article.
This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m flashing back to NBA Live 18 and paying tribute to Ultimate Team with a highlight reel featuring stars of the 90s.
Now that the servers have been shut down, NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team is no longer available. This was most unfortunate for my retro basketball gaming habits, as I’ve enjoyed jumping back into the game every now and again to play with my squad of 90s All-Stars. Although that fun is over now, it was a blast while it lasted, and I made sure to capture my favourite plays. You’ve no doubt seen them show up in the weekly Top 10 countdown that Dee curates, but with the sunset of the mode, I decided to put together a supercut of some of my best highlights. Let’s take a look back…way back…
It’s one of the longest basketball gaming highlight reels that I’ve made to date, but I hope you enjoy some spectacular moments from a title that had a lot of potential. To that end, while Ultimate Team may no longer be playable, NBA Live 18 will still be in my rotation, and therefore in our content from time to time. With that being said, please subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming videos, including the Top 10, highlight reels, video essays, and game retrospectives, including a look back at NBA Street Homecourt that I expect to have ready in early 2025. And, as always, be sure to hit us up with suggestions of games you’d like to see us play!
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with a fun exercise: representing all 30 NBA teams with moments from The Simpsons.
Tomorrow marks 35 years since The Simpsons premiered as a half hour series with the episode “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire“. As most diehard Simpsons fans can tell you, it was originally produced as the eighth episode of the first season, but animation errors in the intended series premiere – “Some Enchanted Evening” – ended up pushing back the show’s debut. As a result, it premiered with a Christmas special, which also became the only episode to air during the 80s (not counting the original shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, of course).
As a 90s kid, The Simpsons was as important to me as basketball, video games, and all of the other awesome things to come out of that radical decade. Indeed, in 1998, three of my favourite things – The Simpsons, NBA, and WWF – all aired on Channel Ten here in Australia. As such, they’re closely linked in my nostalgia, much the same way as I think of Fallout 3 and NBA Live 09 as a package deal! Since it’s a milestone for the show and it’s the time of year that I prefer to focus on some lighter topics, I’m trying my hand at representing all 30 NBA teams using moments from The Simpsons. And no, I’m not including Bart vs. the Space Mutants for NES as part of this exercise!
Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.
Earlier this week on the NLSC Podcast, we discussed how the NBA has a three-point problem. You know what we never have a problem with in the NLSC Top 10 Plays, though? DUNKS! To that end, we’re proud to present another countdown that pays tribute to the highest-percentage and most spectacular highlight in basketball. As always though, it’s not just about throwing the ball through the hoop, as these plays demonstrate great defense and crafty moves to set up jaw-dropping jams. Six different games are in the spotlight this week, so without any further ado, let’s get to the action!
What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.
Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five random and interesting NBA player stories that I’ve encountered.
Writing articles for the NLSC for all these years has been a rewarding experience. Obviously, it’s creatively satisfying for someone who has always enjoyed writing and is passionate about basketball and basketball video games, but to that point, it’s also catered to my enthusiasm for history and trivia. Covering NBA history and roster trivia through the lens of basketball video games not only conveniently avoids the need to use copyrighted images, but has also led me to discover some fascinating facts and stories about the hardwood, real and virtual.
To that end, I’ve recounted these tales in previous articles, but I wanted to revisit some of the most interesting NBA player stories that I’ve encountered while producing content for the NLSC. We all know the stories and many basic facts and figures about the all-time greats, but we so often overlook the interesting journeys of lesser-known names; stories such as the promising player who never quite made it to the NBA, the player whose journey to the NBA could inspire MyCAREER stories, players whose careers are What Ifs, and some interesting records. You may have heard these five NBA player stories before – from me or someone else – but they’re worth telling again.
This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at the free Lights Out screensaver that was packaged with the PC version of NBA Jam TE.
Considering that it’s one of my all-time favourite basketball video games, it should be no surprise that I’ve covered NBA Jam Tournament Edition several times in Wayback Wednesday. The PC version is particularly special to me, as it’s one of the very first hoops games that I bought. Indeed, I still have my original copy, which is fortunate as it seems to be a rare and expensive collectible nowadays! In any case, I’ve discussed so many aspects of NBA Jam TE in detail, from retrospectives of the game, to Kevin Edwards’ incorrect portrait, to theories about ratings.
However, apart from a fleeting mention in the aforementioned retrospective, I’ve never really talked about the Lights Out screensaver that came with NBA Jam TE PC. As a young, hoops-crazed PC gamer back in the 90s, it became a source of frustration for me, as I was never able to install it. This wasn’t a case of technological illiteracy, as I’ve been tinkering with computers since the age of eight or so (is it any surprise that I got into IT?). Rather, it’s an apparent mistake with the included documentation, one that I’ve long sought a solution to. Let’s take a look back…way back…
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on how my basketball gaming has increasingly involved hitting the streets to virtually hoop.
One of the most valuable life lessons I’ve learned is the importance of remaining open-minded, trying new things, and being willing to step outside your comfort zone. As someone who was a picky eater growing up, it’s been a delight to give new cuisine a chance, and discover that I have a taste for foods I was once intimidated by. Meeting new friends has introduced me to hobbies, interests, and experiences that I might not have tried otherwise. As for basketball gaming, I’ve been able to shed brand loyalty and established habits to find new retro kicks, and different ways of enjoying them.
Case in point: my recent appreciation for virtually balling in the streets! There’s plenty of irony here. First of all, playful jabs at JaoSming and his enthusiasm for Blacktop mode were running gags on old episodes of the NLSC Podcast, yet here I am enjoying the type of virtual streetball gameplay that he championed! Second, I’ve been highly critical of NBA Live’s focus on The Streets, particularly in NBA Live 19, so the last thing I expected was to get hooked on the Pro-Am Tour in NBA Live 18. I do still stand by many of my previous criticisms, but like a dish I swore I’d never eat, I’ve developed a taste for – with apologies to the Doobie Brothers – takin’ it to the streets.
Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.
Every week, the NLSC Top 10 Plays indirectly poses a question: is there a more spectacular play in basketball, real or virtual, than a dunk? Well, slams may ultimately be king, but you know what else is fun? Buzzer beaters from way downtown, incredible blocks and other stops, and crossovers that leave defenders in the dust! You’ll find an array of such highlights in this week’s countdown, which also spotlights seven different games ranging from NBA Live 95 to NBA 2K25. I know you want to get hyped for a weekend of basketball gaming, so let’s get to the action!
What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.
Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five players and their short-lived stints that nevertheless became iconic.
Even when a player has had stints with multiple teams, there’s usually one that stands out as their most famous or memorable. Interestingly, it isn’t always the team that they spent the bulk of their career with. Sometimes, it’s the short-lived stints that produce the most success or notoriety, so they’re the ones that are best remembered and often talked about. Personal nostalgia also comes into play here. I’d suggest that we tend to associate players with the teams they played for when we first started watching and taking a keen interest in basketball, or at least very early on in our fandom.
To that point, our perception of time also changes as we age. A player having a three or four-year stint seemed like a long tenure back when I was a teenage hoop head, but now that I’m older, it’s over in a blink! Looking back, I’ve realised that there are quite a few Hall of Fame players whose most iconic stints were actually rather short-lived. Despite that brevity however, those are the jerseys that we tend to picture them in. As such, it’s interesting to reflect on how long those stints actually lasted, and why they became so iconic to the point of eclipsing longer tenures. With that in mind, here are five all-time greats, and their iconic short-lived stints that I tend to remember best.
This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at the basketball games of the 2008 season, and explaining why I believe it was the weakest lineup to date.
As much as I miss having multiple annual releases in the basketball gaming space – especially when we had at least three or four companies throwing their hat into the ring – it clearly wasn’t sustainable. The quality of those games was inconsistent across the board, and it didn’t help that some of them were console and regional exclusives. To that point, it’s no wonder that many series didn’t last nearly as long as NBA 2K, or even NBA Live. Still, it was great having so many choices that brought their own ideas to the table, and there were usually at least one or two fantastic games each year.
Nominating the best or strongest year in basketball gaming is tough; in fact, that’s a topic that Dee and I might have to tackle on the podcast, with the community’s input. If we’re talking about the worst or weakest season for basketball games though, I do have an answer that – while obviously subjective – I am confident in. After going back and reviewing NBA Live 08, NBA 2K8, and Sony’s NBA 08, I believe that 2008 is the frontrunner for the weakest season for basketball video games. I certainly wouldn’t expect everyone to agree, but I have my reasons. Let’s take a look back…way back…
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some reflections on the server shutdowns that have taken place in 2024 – or will soon take place – as it relates to basketball gaming.
As gamers, we all know too well that server shutdowns are inevitable. While it’s unfortunate, it’s also understandable. There comes a point where there simply aren’t enough people still playing a game to justify the cost, time, and energy required to maintain online support. We’re also given a clear heads up in the documentation for games. For example, following a change in policy in the wake of the backlash to the NBA 2K14 server shutdown in 2015, we’ve been able to bank on 27 months of online support for each game in the NBA 2K series thereafter.
Still, even when we know that they’re coming, and can understand the reasons behind them, server shutdowns remain a bummer. Most of us are going to be left with some unfinished business, or just be disappointed that we can’t revisit and continue playing a memorable save in a connected mode. To that end, as of writing, we’ve lost online support for one Triple-A basketball game in 2024, while a second will see its server shutdowns happen very soon. Meanwhile, the closure of another online service was a blow for anyone still playing their Xbox 360. As such, I’m reflecting on those server shutdowns, and how my basketball gaming has been (or will be) impacted by them.
Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.
This week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays once again spans generations, with a variety of games and NBA greats! Some of them may be wearing different jerseys due to the fantastic scenarios the virtual hardwood facilitates, but there’s no mistaking Dr. J’s signature aerial abilities, the lightning-quick crossovers of Allen Iverson, and LeBron James’ trademark dunks as both a young man and elder statesmen of the league. Eight games are featured this week, ranging from NBA Live 2005 to NBA 2K25. As always, our Top 10 is the best way to get pumped up for a weekend of basketball gaming, so let’s get to the action!
What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.
Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is another list of five stints that never officially appeared in basketball video games.
It’s Part 3 in what is becoming an ongoing series recalling stints that never officially appeared in video games! I’m always wary of spending too long on certain topics, but since I ended up going to Part 21 in my series about players who only appeared on certain teams in games, a third article definitely isn’t that crazy. Besides, as long as there are interesting examples to talk about and stories to revisit, I’d rather not leave them on the table. Considering that all five players this time around were All-Stars, they’re undoubtedly too important not to discuss!
When it comes to stints that don’t officially appear in any video games, it’s usually because it was a very brief tenure, and generally the result of a midseason signing or trade. Alternatively, the move may have happened quite early in the year or even in the offseason, but missed the roster cut-off date for the game, and no official roster update ever accounted for it (in many cases because the game predates such updates becoming commonplace). This list contains examples of both, as well as a rather unique example that’s…well, there’s no question that it belongs on a list of stints with no official representation, but at the same time, it sort of was included. Let’s begin!
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