NBA Live 99

With my current preference for retro basketball gaming, one of my modding goals for 2026 is to release some new and fixed updates for old favourites. Late last year, I mentioned that I was dabbling with enhancing an old Michael Jordan face for NBA Live 99 PC, in part so that I’d have a suitable update to spruce up my 2002 season rosters.

I’m happy to say that I’ve finished work on that MJ update, and it’s now available to download! The new pack includes the original Michael Jordan face and his red and black leg sleeve that was created by Kit Dizon way back in 1999. I’ve added an updated blue and black version of the sleeve that’s suitable for MJ’s Wizards stint, and replaced Kit’s custom portrait with the one from NBA Live 2001 which has proper transparency. I’ve also included the custom play-by-play and arena speech update created by two of our founders, Tim and Brien. The Bulls and Wizards versions of MJ are using different filenames, so they can be installed simultaneously and used by different rosters as necessary.

Unfortunately, the portrait files in NBA Live 99 are a bit finnicky. To that end, thus far I haven’t had any luck importing a headshot of Michael Jordan from his Wizards tenure with a transparent background. As such, both versions of MJ are currently using the NBA Live 2001 portrait in which he’s sporting a Bulls jersey. If I can solve that issue or I discover any other ways to enhance the mod, I’ll release a further update as necessary.

For now though, you can download the enhanced Michael Jordan update for NBA Live 99 here. Instructions on how to use the files with a custom roster are included. Shout out and full credit to Kit, Tim, and Brien for the work they did way back in the 90s! Stay tuned for some more retro releases, including an end-of-season update for my aforementioned 2002 roster with player faces and other improvements. If you need help getting NBA Live 99 to run on modern Windows, check out this guide over on Matt’s Classic PC Gaming!

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 swansong of the original Roster Player concept in 1999 season releases.

It’s New Year’s Eve, so I’m sure that many of us are ready to party like it’s 1999…or at least, those of us who are old enough to get that reference are, anyway! Ham-fisted pop culture references aside, while I wouldn’t say that 1999 has been on my mind all throughout 2025, it has come up a couple of times in Wayback Wednesday features in the form of NBA Live 99. Granted, the game was actually released in 1998 and only the PC version featured updated rosters via an official patch, but it remains a 1999 season release, albeit one that had to launch with final 1998 rosters due to the lockout.

This meant that NBA Live 99 still included a Roster Player on the Chicago Bulls in place of Michael Jordan, who officially retired in early 1999 as the lockout drew to a close. To that end, while the 1998 season was MJ’s last until his comeback with the Washington Wizards, his Roster Player remained active on the virtual hardwood in 1999 season releases. It marked the final use of a Roster Player, at least as the concept was originally devised. As we prepare to leave 2025 behind, let’s take a look back – way back – at an overlooked milestone in basketball gaming.

Read More »

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 my Christmas of 1998, which included receiving NBA Live 99 for the Nintendo 64.

It’s Christmas Eve, so I hope that you’re enjoying the holiday season no matter how you spend it! To that point, I appreciate you checking in with us for some basketball gaming content. When I glanced ahead in the calendar and was reminded that this week’s Wayback Wednesday would fall on the night before Christmas, I naturally began thinking of what would be a suitably festive topic. I’ve previously reflected on the inclusion of the special Christmas jerseys in various games, and other ways that Christmas has been represented on the virtual hardwood.

This year, I’d like to share something a bit more personal, specifically memories of my Christmas in 1998. We all have years in our lives that are significant to us for one reason or another. Whether they were wonderful, terrible, or otherwise shaped the person we are today, those years stick in our minds. 1998 was a memorable year for me, and for mostly positive reasons. To that end, my Christmas of 1998 capped off a great trip around the sun, and also happened to deliver a new basketball video game: NBA Live 99 for the Nintendo 64. Join me as I take a look back…way back…

Read More »

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 my 2002 rosters for NBA Live 99.

If you weren’t around during the heyday of NBA Live modding, you might not be aware that I used to be a prolific roster modder. Inspired by the awesome work that our founders had done for the early NBA Live games on PC, I began making my own current roster updates, in particular focusing on NBA Live 96. I eventually moved on to newer games, and ended up taking over the NLSC-branded current rosters when Lutz retired. Beginning with NBA Live 2003, I spent many years creating current season updates for the latest release in the series.

However, given that I got my start in modding by updating a superseded title, and also have a predisposition for retro gaming, it’s no surprise that I was inspired to work on another older game after leaving NBA Live 96 behind. To that end, come the 2002 season, I began updating the rosters for NBA Live 99 PC, a mod you can still find in our Downloads database today. In some ways it was an unusual choice of game for me to work on, especially since it was a few years old at that point. I had my reasons though, and really enjoyed making those rosters! Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

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 transitional rosters of the 1999 lockout season, as captured in NBA Live 99 PC.

It’s been 25 years since a lockout led to NBA games being cancelled for the first time, with the threat of an entire season being lost. I’ll admit that I wasn’t paying attention to the looming labour crisis as a teenage Chicago Bulls fan in 1998. I was focused on following the action, hoping that Michael Jordan would win another scoring title and the Bulls would end the year as champions once more. The rumours that concerned me were that it would be The Last Dance, which it obviously was. Furthermore, the magazines I was reading weren’t really covering it, and NBA Action definitely wasn’t!

Fortunately, the season was saved when ultimatums were issued – though, it wouldn’t be the last labour dispute – and the 1999 lockout ended on January 20th, 1999. On top of shortening the 1999 campaign to 50 games, it also meant that video games such as NBA Live had to launch with final 1998 season rosters. Fortunately for PC gamers, EA Sports released an official patch that not only fixed a few bugs, but updated the game for the new season. As such, NBA Live 99 PC in its updated state does preserve the rosters from a weird, yet memorable season. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

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 going back to the N64 version of NBA Live 99, and seeing if it can be suitably updated for the 1999 season.

While I do have fond and nostalgic memories of the Nintendo 64, it’s fair to say that the console hasn’t aged as well as other platforms. The 3D era was in its infancy, so on top of graphics that tend to be unappealing nowadays, many games display the teething problems of expanding into a new plane while designing game worlds and gameplay. Some of the best releases do still hold up, though very few of them tend to be sports games. The N64’s controller is a major culprit here, as it wasn’t ideal for several cross-platform genres.

Nevertheless, I was excited to get NBA Live 99 for N64 for Christmas in 1998. Due to the lockout of course, the game had to launch with final 1998 season rosters. This ultimately wouldn’t be a problem on PC, thanks to mods and official patches. As we were a long way from consoles supporting downloadable updates, those platforms were left out in the cold. We had to make do with the default rosters, or try our best to update them ourselves. With that being said, is it possible to make a sufficiently detailed roster update for NBA Live 99 on N64? Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #450 of the NLSC Podcast!

We’re marking 150 episodes as a duo, and to celebrate, we’ve got some fun NBA trivia related to the number 150! In light of Kendrick Perkins butting heads with Ronnie 2K over his Overall Rating in NBA 2K throughout the years, we look back at the rosters in NBA 2K10 – his best season in the league – to see if he has a legitimate beef. We also revisited NBA Live 96 and NBA Live 99 PC using custom rosters this past week, and it’s safe to say that it won’t be the last time! We’re also paying tribute to the commentary of the late great Don Poier, and opening up the mailbag to some very kind words from our listeners.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:12:45 — 50.3MB)

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!

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #449 of the NLSC Podcast!

NBA Live 99 PC is arguably one of the most underrated basketball video games of all-time, and we had a blast revisiting it using a 2002 roster update! In addition to giving NBA Live 99 PC its due, our session also inspired us to reflect on the Boston Celtics and Michael Jordan-led Washington Wizards of the 2002 season. We also discuss the latest NBA 2K23 patch, which thankfully appears to have done more good than harm. There’s also some recent retro basketball game pickups to share, including Arch Rivals for the NES, the later NBA 2K titles for PlayStation 2, and a few other classics and rarities that will undoubtedly appeal to our fellow enthusiastic collectors and retro gamers.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:06:32 — 46.0MB)

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! Today, it’s a retrospective of NBA Live 99.

When I think of overlooked and forgotten basketball video games, NBA Live 99 is one that often comes to mind. It doesn’t help that it came between NBA Live 98, a game that saw a really big leap from the year before, and NBA Live 2000, one of the best games in the NBA Live series. The lockout that threatened the 1999 season is also a major factor, as it meant that NBA Live 99 shipped without updated rosters (and in somewhat of a transitional year for the NBA). On top of that, its cover player, Antoine Walker, has consistently topped the “worst cover player” polls that we’ve run over the years. It’s unfortunate, as NBA Live 99 is actually a strong entry in the series.

Read More »

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at some NBA Live 99 and NBA Live 09 trivia, ahead of the release of NBA Live 19.

We’re just a couple of days away from the launch of NBA Live 19. It’s shaping up to be a good year for NBA Live, as the series continues its comeback after many years of rebuilding. Hopefully NBA Live will continue to go from strength to strength from here on out, as it did during its glory years of the mid 90s to around 2005. Back then, EA Sports were doing some very innovative things with the series, and it felt like every year brought something new to the table. As I said in my retrospective, that was certainly the case with NBA Live 99.

NBA Live 09 was also a good bounce back year for the series, and remains one of its best releases during the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 generation. With the series having been around for over two decades, it’s interesting to look back at the game that came out ten years before the current one, and the one that was released ten years before that. With that in mind, I’ve compiled some NBA Live 99 and NBA Live 09 trivia, similar to what I did last year with NBA Live 98 and NBA Live 08. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

Today’s retro file additions include a couple of long-lost releases for NBA Live 99 PC that have been recovered and re-uploaded, specifically my 2002 season update, and Scubilete’s 2003 roster. If you feel like dusting off NBA Live 99, be sure to pick them up and give them a look!

Andrew
2001/2002 Season Roster Update

Scubilete
2002/2003 Season Roster Update

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m continuing my retrospective on franchise modes with a look back at multiseason play in NBA Live 99’s Season mode.

NBA Live 98’s GM Mode was an interesting first step in changing up the approach to Season play, but it wasn’t quite what basketball gamers had wanted. It laid the groundwork for a variety of exciting new features however, and it was clear that gamers and EA Sports alike were committed to the idea of a deeper experience. A fully-fledged multiseason mode was once again something that gamers expressed their interest in through the NLSC’s NBA Live 99 Wishlist, submitted to the NBA Live development team at EA Canada on December 10th, 1997.

It would be another year before a few of those wishes were granted, but NBA Live 99 did take the next step by implementing multiseason play in its Season mode. Lacking many of the key elements of later franchise modes, but also introducing several important features as well, it’s arguably somewhat of a forgotten milestone on the road to the deep multiseason experience that we wanted to see in basketball video games. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at the 1998 rosters in NBA Live 99.

The 1999 NBA season isn’t considered a classic year for the league, but it’s certainly interesting and significant in its own right. It was the first season in which games were cancelled due to a lockout, and indeed, the first time it appeared as though an entire season may be lost due to a labour dispute. It was also something of a transitional season following Michael Jordan’s second retirement, with the defending champion Chicago Bulls being broken up, a lot of key players around the league moving on to new teams, and early signs of a new era beginning in the NBA.

In the midst of the turbulent offseason and prolonged labour dispute of 1998-99, EA Sports released NBA Live 99. Because of the lockout, the game couldn’t ship with the Class of 1998 rookies, but out of the box, it did actually feature updated 1998 season rosters. It’s an interesting and unusual situation, so let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content.

As basketball video games have continued to harness the power of improving gaming technology, we’ve expected more and more of them. While most of our desires have been centred on gameplay and game modes, presentation is an area that a lot of basketball gamers have wanted to see enhancements in over the years. While slick presentation will only briefly mask gameplay and game mode deficiencies, it’s nevertheless important in terms of creating atmosphere, and adding those extra touches of reality that we tend to enjoy so much.

In the past few years, basketball video games have come to include very detailed and realistic TV-style presentation. Whether it’s NBA Live 16’s NBA on ESPN segments hosted by Jalen Rose, or NBA 2K16’s pre-game, halftime, and post-game shows featuring digital versions of Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith, we’ve come to expect great production values that mimic a real NBA broadcast. Back in the day, of course, breaks in the action were spiced up in a far more modest manner.

Today, we’re talking about the halftime shows that appeared in the early versions of NBA Live. Without any further ado, let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games.

You may not have noticed it, seeing as how we’re talking about content that appears at bottom of our Forum and Downloads section, but I recently tracked down my old pack of roster patches for NBA Live 96, which contains some of the earliest work that I released. It took a bit of detective work, including hitting up archive.org to find out the filename, and then finally locating it in my backups. While I have unfortunately lost some of my early work forever – or so it would seem, anyway – I was quite happy to discover that I still had those particular releases.

Originally, I was just trying to track down my 1997/1998 roster patch for NBA Live 96, to grab a screenshot for my Friday Five article on lost NBA Live saves. That’s when I discovered I couldn’t find any of my old roster patches. Originally, I used another screenshot in its place, published the article, and then spent the rest of the evening trying to find those old rosters. I was reluctant to accept that they were gone forever, and as it happens, my persistence paid off. As I said, I found an old link that revealed the filename, and from there, a search of my backups yielded the file.

Needless to say, while I was in that folder, I continued to have a look around…

Read More »