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 reasons why Roster Players weren’t an entirely bad thing back in the day, and still have their charm now.
Even if you didn’t grow up playing basketball video games in the 90s, chances are you’ve heard the legend of Roster Players. The moniker – which comes from the naming convention they used in several games – refers to the fictional placeholder players that stood in for anyone who wasn’t licensed to appear. The name “Roster Player” is practically synonymous with Michael Jordan, since he was frequently replaced by such a player in games released during the mid to late 90s. Charles Barkley was another regular Roster Player, at least up until his final few seasons.
Big names and role players alike have been replaced by stand-ins when licensing issues prevent them from appearing. Ironically, while it’s often looked upon as a phenomenon associated with early basketball video games, it’s still happening today with NBA 2K’s classic teams and MyNBA Eras rosters. It’s hardly ideal – then or now – and so given the choice, we’d all rather see the real players in the game. However, while Roster Players may not be the most desirable sight to behold when we fire up a game, they’re not all bad! Here are five reasons why Roster Players weren’t (and still aren’t) a complete abomination, and indeed, can actually be fun in their own way.
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 paying tribute to Doug’s Stats, an essential modding resource in the early days of our community.
I’ll admit that sometimes I yearn for the World Wide Web of yesteryear, when fansites were king and before social media became everything. Selfishly, it’s because we didn’t have to compete with platforms backed by billionaires, but beyond that, I miss seeing other websites that have the same passion that we do. At this point, we’ve outlasted a number of our contemporaries, from fellow NBA Live fansites to our former host, GameSpy. Some of those sites have been preserved by archive.org, but many others are sadly gone forever.
Occasionally, someone will drop by the Forum or one of our social media pages to reminisce and express joy that we’re still around. Obviously it’s always nice to receive flattering compliments and read people’s positive memories of the NLSC, but I also relate to it because I too am heartened to discover a site I once used to visit is still around decades later. One of those sites is Doug’s Stats, which as I mentioned, was once an essential roster modding resource in our community. Doug’s work definitely deserves recognition – even to this day – so let’s take a look back…way back…
Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee! 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, send Dee a message, or hit him up on X.
The community always brings the goods with their submissions for the NLSC Top 10 Plays, but this week’s countdown features some particularly wild highlights! You’ll see some crazy angles and a lot of distance on alley-oops, a putback dunk with flair, an emphatic block, and Steph Curry doing his thing in the clutch. Six different games are featured this week, ranging from NBA Live 95 all the way up to NBA 2K25. It’s the best way to get hyped for another weekend on the virtual hardwood, 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 times that basketball video games messed up player appearances.
Considering that there have been several topics that I’ve turned into a multi-part series in The Friday Five in recent years, it’s surprising that I haven’t covered this one since 2018! However, a new batch of examples have presented themselves, so it’s time to talk about five more times that basketball games messed up player appearances. As I noted in the previous article, there are times when we’re a bit harsh in our criticism of video game aesthetics. Modders aren’t under the same restrictions as the developers, from deadlines to properly-licensed assets.
At the same time, there have been some surprisingly sloppy errors and efforts in basketball video games throughout the years, resulting in player appearances being messed up. Whether it’s a poor likeness, mismatched textures, or players having the wrong appearance entirely, they stick out like a sore thumb. Of course, some of these mistakes can fly under the radar if you’re not familiar with the players, or you never played the games in question. To that point, thanks to an expanded collection, an open-minded approach to retro gaming, and a tip on X, these five examples include some that I definitely wouldn’t have thought of in 2018. Let’s tip things off with…
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 selection of retro jerseys in NBA Live 10.
Some basketball gamers have declared NBA Live 10 to be the best game in the NBA Live series. While I’ve definitely come to enjoy it a lot more over the years and would agree that it’s the last really good release in the series, I still give the nod to NBA Live 06 PC as the best all-around hoops sim from EA Sports. With that being said, NBA Live 10 is very solid and a lot of fun on the sticks, had some great ideas with adidas LIVE Run and Dynamic Season, and even brought back a standalone Playoffs mode. Unfortunately we lost the All-Star Weekend, but Dynasty mode was still there.
And of course, NBA Live 10 brought back retro jerseys! The lack of historical content during the seventh generation NBA Live titles was undoubtedly a knock on the series, especially since Legends and throwback uniforms were still being featured in the sixth generation versions and their PC ports. However, one of the goals for NBA Live 10 was to celebrate basketball culture; an initiative that not only led to the addition of The Hangar, but also the return of retro jerseys. It’s a part of the game that I really enjoy whenever I’m on an NBA Live 10 kick, so 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 advice to retro gamers, namely to always follow your nostalgia.
One of the best decisions that I’ve made for my basketball gaming habits in recent years – with a considerable assist from Dee, of course – is to break the monotonous cycle of grinding up a MyPLAYER every year in the latest game. Clearly, I’m not sick of the MyCAREER experience, as my ongoing game in NBA 2K14 proves. What I am tired of is being hurtled back to square one on an annual basis, in games that I’m just not enjoying as much as many of their predecessors. Realising that, and revisiting some old favourites both solo and co-op, has reignited my passion for retro gaming.
What’s interesting, however, is that I’m not only playing my all-time favourites. In fact, in tandem with expanding my collection of basketball video games, I’ve been seeking out titles that I haven’t played before, or didn’t have the best first impression of, to see if they find a place in my rotation. There are many factors that drive me to give a particular game a shot. Perhaps Dee and I played it, and I decided that I’d like to spend some more time with it solo. It might have a rare appearance of a Legend, or a unique mode. Beyond that though, my nostalgia for a particular style of gameplay, or a specific era in NBA history, is often what steers me towards my latest retro kick.
Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee! 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, send Dee a message, or hit him up on X.
Dunks have taken a backseat the past couple of weeks, but the slam is definitely in vogue in the latest NLSC Top 10 Plays! As in real life, there are many spectacular ways to throw it down on the virtual hardwood, and the community has clearly been having a ton of fun taking it to the rim as of late. With that being said, you’ll also find another great clutch moment from the NBA Live 2001 Legends, whose competitive showdowns continue to be inspiring. Eight different games are featured this week, including an overlooked Genesis release, 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 brief stints that were captured for posterity in video games.
Yes, it’s time for another Five that underscores once again that basketball video games end up being interactive almanacs! Last June, I recalled five brief stints that made it into the official rosters of basketball video games, from Rasheed Wallace’s unlikely appearance as an Atlanta Hawk in NBA Ballers to Anfernee Hardaway’s frequently forgotten comeback with the Miami Heat, as seen in NBA 2K7. A combination of late releases, revised editions, and official roster updates have preserved a number of these odd stints for players that we generally picture in a different uniform.
To that point, if we’ve spent a considerable amount of time with a game – especially in the days before official roster updates – we may come to think of these brief stints as lasting much longer than they actually did. That’s definitely the case for me when it comes to at least one of the examples that I’m covering here today. As for the other brief stints, while I do remember them and that they didn’t last long, it’s still thanks to unusual and fortuitous circumstances that they were preserved in the official rosters of video games. Long-time readers will know how much I love trivia like this, so let’s not delay any further; here are five more brief stints that were captured in games!
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 PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 version of NBA 2K9.
I had to double-check that I hadn’t already covered NBA 2K9 in a previous Wayback Wednesday retrospective. It’s not that I won’t revisit games that I’ve already profiled if I have new thoughts to share, but if it is my second opinion, I want to acknowledge my previous take. As it happens, I specifically reflected on NBA 2K9 coming to PC, but it wasn’t a detailed retrospective. My only real commentary on the game itself was to say that it doesn’t hold up as well as its successors. Irrespective of how accurate or inaccurate that critique of NBA 2K9 is, it’s hardly an in-depth retrospective or review!
Since then, I’ve developed a greater appreciation for the games that came before NBA 2K13. NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7 have even retroactively become a couple of my all-time favourite basketball games! However, as I’ve previously explained, I wasn’t as impressed with NBA 2K8. It felt like a misstep, a sentiment reflected in many of the contemporary reviews. In any case, I was due to revisit NBA 2K9 next, so it’s been in my rotation in anticipation of this retrospective. With that being said, does it hold up, and has it also become a retroactive favourite? 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 developing more of an appreciation for MyCAREER stories over the years.
I’ll admit that as a creature of habit, I can be resistant to change. I’d like to think that I’ve grown in that regard. For example, I’m no longer the really picky eater I was as a kid! When it comes to basketball video games, I’ve come to enjoy a number of titles that left a poor first impression, and modes that I never thought I’d be interested in. What still bothers me though is change for change’s sake, or any changes where the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. I think we can all relate to the frustration of having something we really like being drastically changed in a way we didn’t want or ask for.
That brings me to MyCAREER, and the stories that the mode has featured since 2013. Originally, I had no interest in the mode. I was a franchise gamer, after all! However, just as I overcame picky eating habits by deciding to try new cuisine, I came to enjoy MyCAREER after giving it a proper shot in NBA 2K13. A year and a new generation of consoles later, the mode introduced a narrative-driven approach, and I felt that it took away from an experience that I was now enthusiastic about. As such, I’ve been critical of MyCAREER stories, yet also fascinated by them. Now that I’ve finished all of the stories up to NBA 2K20, I now appreciate what they’ve meant for the mode.
Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee! 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, send Dee a message, or hit him up on X.
The community continues to have a blast producing wild moments on the virtual hardwood, as this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays demonstrates! A block party that turns into a bucket, a crazy shootout to end regulation, ridiculous buzzer beaters, perfectly-timed alley-oops, and devastating poster dunks, are all part of another spectacular countdown. As always, the variety extends beyond the array of highlights as eight different games are featured, from NBA Streel Vol. 2 all the way up to NBA 2K25. 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 changes that NBA teams have made to their branding that I’ve found quite baffling.
Look, I’ll put my hand up and admit to being a creature of habit that sometimes needs to be pushed – or indeed, dragged kicking and screaming – through the proverbial door of change. With that being said, I do still believe that change for change’s sake opens the door to bad ideas. To quote a classic pearl of colloquial wisdom, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. That certainly applies to a number of branding changes that NBA teams have made over the years. As a Chicago Bulls fan, I’m rather lucky that they’ve kept their iconic look decades beyond the championship years!
Although I’m not as personally affected by changes that other NBA teams make to their branding, I still have my likes and dislikes when it comes to what I see when they’re on the court. It’s understandable that teams want to freshen up their look, and admittedly, there have been many times when I’ve really liked the new designs that a franchise has introduced. Other times however, an NBA team will make changes to their branding that are simply baffling, either because it feels like such a step down, or the team didn’t seem that committed to the design because they change it again soon afterwards. With that being said, here are five baffling NBA team branding changes!
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 controversy that surrounded the NBA 2K14 server shutdown.
The unfortunate reality of games with online features is that at some point, support for those titles will end. Obviously, this is a useful way for companies to push us towards buying a newer release, but in all fairness, it’s also understandable that the servers are shut down once a game’s userbase has largely moved on. Naturally, this happens even quicker with annual sports games. As much as we hate to lose online support for older classics, most gamers do move on every year, making it difficult to justify the expense and effort of maintaining the servers indefinitely.
It’s still a bummer though, especially when we’re locked out of save files and content that should be able to function in a limited capacity offline. While we’re never pleased to see the end of online support, the NBA 2K14 server shutdown ten years ago proved to be particularly controversial. Not only did it impact the way that Take-Two handled online support for future titles, but it also hinted at future controversies with a lack of communication and goodwill when it comes to the NBA 2K series. To that end, it was a significant event with lasting ramifications! 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 the notion that gamers just always complain about everything.
When you’re part of multiple fandoms, it’s interesting how the same conversations take place in every bubble. What we like is the best, so much better than the rest! We love our thing, but man, we also have some of the worst fans! We complain too much. We aren’t critical enough! Everyone pretends to like what’s new. Everyone always hates the new thing! No matter whether it’s basketball gaming or real basketball, a different genre of video games, an iconic film or TV series, or professional wrestling, I’m sure that all of these phrases sound extremely familiar.
To that point, I happened to be browsing the Mortal Kombat subreddit, and ended up reading some comments that I’ve seen the basketball gaming community utter so many times. Specifically, it was opined that the latest game in the series is always bashed unfairly, while the previous game – which itself was once subjected to the same scorn – is held up as perfect. This of course prompted someone to basically say that gamers are never happy, and constantly complain about every little thing. See what I mean about the same conversations across multiple fandoms? There is merit here, but personally, I’m tired of all the self-flagellation that we gamers partake in.
Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee! 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, send Dee a message, or hit him up on X.
It’s hardly a secret that we love dunks in the NLSC Top 10 Plays, but those aren’t the only spectacular highlights in basketball, real or virtual. To that point, dunks are actually in the minority in this week’s countdown, as the community demonstrates that an elusive layup, slick move into a jumper that finds all net, or a big defensive stop, can be just as entertaining as a slam. Dunk lovers needn’t worry however, as you’ll still see some awesome jams. There’s great variety all around this week, as seven different games from NBA 2K6 to NBA 2K25 are on display. But enough talk; 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.
NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
