NBA Live 16

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 at long last returning to my roots as a franchise gamer, following a very long detour.

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally an active franchise gamer once again! Dig into the archives, and you’ll find that I was eyeing a return to franchise modes way back in October 2017. I was all set to ration my time between MyCAREER, 2K Pro-Am, MyTEAM, and MyLEAGUE. Franchise was also an option in NBA Live 18, but I wasn’t completely sold on the “streamlined” approach. In the end of course, it didn’t matter. I soured on NBA 2K18, preferred Ultimate Team in NBA Live 18, and committed to making it to the Hall of Fame in MyCAREER come NBA 2K19.

And then, I got hooked on NBA 2K14 MyCAREER! That remains in my rotation as I’m still having a blast with that career seven seasons in. However, I grew up playing old school season modes and then franchise modes, so they’ve been responsible for so many of my all-time favourite basketball gaming experiences. Indeed, this is why I’ve often considered myself a franchise gamer who has been taking a detour, but at this point, there’s no denying that I’m a career and card collecting mode gamer as well! My love of franchise gaming never truly went away though, and now that I’m back into it, I expect it’s going to be a significant part of my time on the virtual hardwood.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #568 of the NLSC Podcast!

This week, we’re reacting to the 2025 Slam Dunk Contest, and the suggestion that threepeat champion Mac McClung has established himself as the greatest dunker of all-time. We’re inclined to disagree, and are bewildered by the lack of acknowledgement of the boosts that he gets on most of his dunk attempts! Additionally, we’ve got a few thoughts on the use of props and gimmicks in the contest in general. We also join the community in discussing the most frustrating types of players to play with and against in organised leagues and pick-up alike, and recap a couple of fantastic sessions with NBA Live 16 and NBA Live 10; two games that continue to surprise and delight us, years later.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 59:57 — 41.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

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 retro jerseys in NBA Live 16.

Retro jerseys were hardly a new feature by the time NBA Live 16 was released in 2015. Of course, it was a feature that was bewilderingly and frustratingly lost when NBA Live made the jump to the seventh generation, before finally returning in NBA Live 10. Following the series’ extended hiatus in the wake of NBA Elite 11 and NBA Live 13 being cancelled, the eighth generation NBA Live releases all included retro jerseys. Indeed, this was something that they definitely did better than their seventh generation counterparts.

With that being said, NBA Live 16 stands out as having the best array of retro jerseys among its eighth gen NBA Live brethren. Granted, it still fell short of NBA 2K16 and other eighth gen NBA 2K titles in that regard, but upon revisiting the game last year, I was nevertheless surprised and impressed by the inclusion of certain uniforms. They have appeared in other releases, but considering that they weren’t part of designated Hardwood Classics nights during the 2016 campaign, including them went above and beyond what was essential. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 2015 Christmas jerseys, and their appearances in video games.

Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings, basketball gamers! I hope you’re having a fun day with your loved ones, or enjoying the holiday however you see fit. I’ll go out on a limb here and guess that nostalgic basketball gaming content probably isn’t on most people’s minds today, but I do pride myself on sticking to a schedule, as well as ensuring that there’s something new here on the NLSC every day. And so, if you’re joining us on Christmas Day – or catching up on recent posts as the case may be – I’d like to give you the gift of Wayback Wednesday!

Given that it’s the festive season and Wayback Wednesday has fallen on Christmas Day this year, it only make sense to cover a topic that’s related to the occasion. To that end, let’s reminisce about the Christmas jerseys that teams wore in 2015, and their presence in basketball video games. Obviously, I’m a year early as far as it being a nice round number for the anniversary, and I did touch on the subject back in 2019. Still, 2015 was a noteworthy year for Christmas jerseys when it comes to the virtual hardwood – and ’tis the season – so let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 by lamenting another rash decision that led to me losing updates and content…again.

When it comes to uninstalling and reinstalling games after their servers have been shut down, you’d think that I’d have learned my lesson by now. In fact, back in 2020, I wrote an entire article reflecting on making that mistake! Of course, to err is human as the saying goes, and I’m only human at the end of the day. Still, that doesn’t stop me from kicking myself, especially when it comes to preventable mistakes; in this case, not uninstalling and reinstalling a game when I didn’t need to. I’d say live and learn, but again, clearly I didn’t.

The game in question this time is NBA Live 16. I uninstalled and reinstalled it a little while back, and although there was a reason for it, it wasn’t entirely necessary. I chose to do it though, and in the process, I lost updates and content that I’ll never get back since the servers were shut down on October 19th, 2020; just a few months after I wrote about losing content and updates when reinstalling games that no longer had online support! And so, in addition to lamenting my losses and chastising my rash decision, this is another public service announcement to be careful with your installed games. If you’re a retro gamer, content creator, or both, please learn from my blunder!

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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 a few of the free agents who were in NBA Live 16, and putting them back in uniform.

To say that the roster customisation options in the eighth gen NBA Live releases were a disappointment is a massive understatement. After all, they were missing entirely until a patch added roster editing to NBA Live 18, and even then, the functionality was botched and buggy come NBA Live 19. Still, it’s far easier to set up a custom roster or fantasy scenario in those two titles, compared to the first three releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Indeed, outside of the official roster updates – which are no longer available – Dynasty mode is the only way to see players in a new jersey.

It’s also the only place that you’ll see the selection of Free Agents that are included in NBA Live 16. To that point, there are some veterans still in the game that, if we could create custom rosters, would’ve allowed us to set up some fun scenarios. It can still be done in Dynasty, but with the limitations of the salary cap and an inability to edit jersey numbers, re-creating lineups is quite a challenge. Nevertheless, I’ve been able to place some of those NBA Live 16 Free Agents back in a uniform that they once wore, correct number and all. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 EA Sports cover players that can be found in NBA Live 16.

Did you know that every single NBA 2K cover player is available to play with in NBA 2K24? Between the cover players that are still active and the game’s array of classic and All-Time teams, they’re all accounted for. Obviously, we haven’t had a new NBA Live since 2018, but even then, NBA Live 19 didn’t include every cover player in the history of the series. On top of that, a couple of the cover players that were included in NBA Live 19 were nevertheless retired, and thus exclusive to the collection of Legends in Ultimate Team.

If we want to find the last NBA Live game that featured a healthy selection of players who appeared on the cover of EA Sports’ long-running basketball sim series, we must go back a few years to NBA Live 16. In fact, not only does NBA Live 16 feature a number of NBA Live cover players, but also players who graced the covers of EA Sports’ college basketball titles. And so, I thought it might be fun to spotlight those cover players who are readily accessible in NBA Live 16, wearing EA Sports jerseys in the game’s practice mode. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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I think many of us still find it tough to wrap our heads around it – and the passage of time doesn’t make it any easier – but it’s been four years since we lost Kobe Bryant in a tragic helicopter crash. Since then, there have been many tributes to the Mamba including NBA 2K covers, and of course his enshrinement into the Hall of Fame. Basketball gamers are actively keeping his memory alive by playing with him on the virtual hardwood, and to that end, I replayed Kobe Bryant’s last game against the Utah Jazz in NBA Live 16.

Since I was playing on six minute quarters, replicating his feat of 60 points was always going to be difficult. While I did fall short of that number, I kept feeding the Mamba the ball, and pulled off some very satisfying highlights in the process. NBA Live 16 is a game that I’ve come to appreciate more upon revisiting it in recent months, and it’s always fun getting buckets with Kobe. I’m sure that many basketball fans will be taking control of Kobe today and this weekend, and this is my tribute to one of the greatest to grace the hardwood, both real and virtual.

Feel free to share your memories of Kobe, and if you post any highlights on social media, be sure to tag us. Beyond that, we’re constantly uploading basketball gaming content to the NLSC YouTube channel, so please subscribe, and hit us up with suggestions of any games that you’d like to see us play. Rest in Peace, Mamba.

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #508 of the NLSC Podcast!

We’re back on the air after a hard drive mishap, and it’s also our 2023 Christmas Special! After celebrating the arrival of a brand new desktop, we catch up on an exciting Top 10 Plays, and also compare NCAA March Madness 08 to NBA Live 08. Since we got into the festive spirit by playing a couple of games of NBA Live 16 using the Christmas Day jerseys, we recap those sessions, and once again discuss the game’s strengths and weaknesses. With the 2024 season well underway, we also join the community in listing the players and teams that we’re enjoying watching, and reflect on some of our favourite Christmas gifts involving basketball and basketball video games.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:35:28 — 65.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings, basketball gamers! I hope that you’re all enjoying the festive season. That might include spending some time on the virtual hardwood, and indeed, that’s what Dee and I have been doing, playing a Christmas Day showdown between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors in NBA Live 16!

As you may recall, Christmas Day 2015 featured that NBA Finals rematch, and the special jerseys that were worn in that game are available in NBA Live 16. To that end, it only made sense to take control of the eventual champion Cavs in co-op play, and try to gain some revenge over the team that defeated them just a few months prior. It was a competitive battle with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving doing their thing, while the Splash Brothers gave us everything they had at the other end. It reminded us of how fun NBA Live 16 can be, and you’ll find the highlights below.

You can also look forward to our recap of the game in Episode #508 of the NLSC Podcast, which will be out soon. Prior to our most recent show, Dee also fired up NBA 2K24 PC with some NBA In-Season Tournament mods installed, and played the finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers. On top of that, I’ve put together a highlight reel from Games 21-30 in Year 6 of my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER on PlayStation 4. Both of those videos can also be found below.

It’s been a great year of producing basketball gaming content for the NLSC YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already! As always, feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play. Once again, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and best wishes to you and your family!

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #505 of the NLSC Podcast!

Is Slam ‘N Jam 96 the worst arcade basketball video game that we’ve ever played? After connecting for a co-op session with the PlayStation version this past week, it’s definitely a candidate! We compare it to Konami’s NBA Give ‘n Go, which we remember as a superior take on the sim-arcade hybrid. On the plus side, we had a much better time revisiting NBA Live 16, and continuing our Road Trip in NBA Jam: On Fire Edition. In this week’s mailbag, we join the community in sharing stories about who we most enjoy playing basketball video games with, and also solicit suggestions for basketball shoes.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:09:33 — 48.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our virtual ballers in the United States! I realise that many of you are probably enjoying quality time with family and friends right now, but I wanted to offer up a couple of Thanksgiving treats in the form of NBA Jam: On Fire Edition and NBA Live 08 videos. Dee has also recently uploaded some great highlight reels for NBA 2K14 and NBA Live 16 that you should definitely catch if you haven’t already.

First up, there’s a seasonally-appropriate NBA Jam: On Fire Edition video, featuring a full game between The Gobblers and characters from SSX. I’m playing the game on Real AI difficulty, which means that the CPU is very aggressive, and throwing my own strategies back at me. These turkeys may have escaped ending up on the dinner table, but it was a tough challenge to avoid them being roasted on the virtual hardwood instead!

Next up is a redux of my re-creation of Dazzling Dunks & Basketball Bloopers’ recap of the 1988 Dunk Contest in NBA Live 08 PC. You may recall that I posted that re-creation back in February for Michael Jordan’s 60th Birthday, and I decided to create a picture-in-picture version that compared my efforts to the original segment. As for Dee’s videos, he put together a reel from our exciting co-op session on NBA 2K14 using 2012 rosters, as well as a game of NBA Live 16 that he played against the CPU. We discussed both of those games in Episode #504 of the NLSC Podcast.

Check out all of those videos below! Once again, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who is celebrating it today. Be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content, and as always, feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #504 of the NLSC Podcast!

If you can believe it, last Wednesday marked a decade since NBA 2K14’s release on PlayStation 4! As such, this week we’re celebrating the tenth anniversary of a truly iconic game, and a personal favourite. That includes looking back to our first impressions of both versions of NBA 2K14, reminiscing about the countless hours we’ve spent with them right through to today, and reflecting on the PC modding scene. We also read out some memories of NBA 2K14 that the community shared with us. Additionally, we have some fantastic basketball gaming sessions from the past week to catch up on, including a game of NBA Live 16 that makes us wistful about yet another missed opportunity for EA Sports.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:27:40 — 60.6MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

To mark the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live, we’re taking a look back at every game in the series with retrospectives and other fun content! This also includes re-running some features from our 20th Anniversary celebrations, with a few revisions. Whether you’re a long-time basketball gamer who grew up with NBA Live and are keen on taking a trip down memory lane, or you’re new to the series and want to learn about its history, we hope that you enjoy celebrating the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live here at the NLSC! Next up is a retrospective of NBA Live 16.

I have mixed feelings when I look back at NBA Live 16. On one hand, it’s a very solid game that was an improvement on NBA Live 15. I also had the opportunity to play it early, and to date, that was the last community event that I attended. On the other hand, the game also introduced concepts that while fun, have since taken the series in the wrong direction upon becoming the main focus. That makes it a pivotal title in the series, and in hindsight, there were some red flags about what was to come. At the same time, the good things that it did were cause for optimism, and deserve credit. With that in mind, NBA Live 16 is a rather interesting release to reflect upon.

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Episode #335 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Derek (aka Dee4Three) and I are your hosts for this week’s show.

The NBA 2K21 Current Gen trailer has given us something to really sink our teeth into this week. We share our thoughts on what we saw, and touch on some of the community reactions. A glimpse of the new Shot Meter and recent comments by Beluba also inspire us to once again discuss shooting mechanics. Meanwhile, remarks by 2K’s CEO have continued to stir up controversy regarding the Next Gen price increase. We have a few things to say on the matter, along with our subsequent expectations for Next Gen. With the NBA Live 16 servers shutting down, we also encourage everyone to wrap up their business ASAP, and take some time to reflect on the game.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:47:16 — 73.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

What’s your take on this week’s conversation? Sound off in the comments section below, or join in the discussion here in the Forum! Additionally, feel free to hit us up with any feedback on the episode, as well as suggestions for topics that you’d like to hear us discuss in future episodes. For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. The show also comes out on our YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe for future episodes and other video content.