NLSC Your source for basketball video games.

As you can see from today’s mod releases, bongo88 continues to work on presentation updates for NBA 2K23. His latest release is an update (v2.1) of the TNT lower3rd Panels mod, which you can pick up at the link below!

bongo88
TNT lower3rd Panels v.2.1 (Updated to V2.1)

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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.

As is often the case, dunks and a variety of different basketball video games are the motif of this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays. Of course, it’s not just about the dunks or even the aerial wizardry, but the setup to the slams. To that point, you’ll see Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Vince Carter all breaking out dazzling moves before mercilessly putting their opponents on a poster. Seven different titles are on display this week, ranging from NBA in the Zone 2 right up 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.

Patch 3.0 is now available for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S version of NBA 2K25, with the PC patch set to drop in time for the new season. As always, the update will come through automatically as long as you’re online. If it doesn’t, try checking for updates manually, or restart your console/Steam client.

In addition to preparing NBA 2K25 for Season 3 in MyTEAM and MyCAREER – tipping off November 29th – Patch 3.0 includes court and uniform updates, hair updates for various players, a couple of quality of life changes, bug fixes, and gameplay adjustments. The PC patch will also include some optimisation and performance fixes.

Check out the full notes for NBA 2K25 Patch 3.0 below, as well as in the game’s update history in our Wiki. As always, feel free to share any impressions in the comments below, as well as join in the discussion here in the Forum.

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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 potential comebacks that would’ve been fun to play with in video games.

As I’ve taken a few more trips around the sun, I’ve become increasingly bothered by the tendency for veterans to get pushed out of the league. Yes, young players who are the future need their opportunities, and it feels like we’re seeing more All-Stars stick around beyond their fifteenth season, but over the years, quite a few veterans have seemingly been ushered out of the NBA while they were still productive. Other times of course, injuries unfortunately cut their careers short, robbing them of the chance to settle into a veteran mentor role while still having the opportunity to contribute.

Those are the times when we hope to see comebacks, if only so a former star can go out in style rather than fade away unceremoniously. We’ve seen that happen, but not every player who leaves the league too soon gets a chance to return and write a better final chapter. Not only is that a shame in real life, but it sadly puts the kibosh on what could be a fun scenario to play with in video games as well. I’ve already posted two previous articles discussing comebacks that would’ve been fun to see in video games, but some of the examples I’m sharing today – particularly the last one – are returns that I really wish had come to pass. Without any further ado, let’s tip things off with…

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Today’s NBA 2K13 mod releases include the latest version of PatTheHead’s fantastic roster pack, which now features 2025 season rosters. Check it out at the link below!

PatTheHead
1946/47 to 2024/25 ABA + NBA Seasons (Updated to v5.9)

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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 fictional rookies that are found in the original rosters of unpatched NBA 2K12.

Fortunately, there haven’t been too many lockouts in the history of the NBA. To that point, only two of them have ever ended up cancelling games, and we’ve yet to see an entire season lost to an unresolved labour dispute. We have seen lockouts affect video games however, whenever they’ve been released as scheduled despite a stoppage. The most obvious effect is that those games have launched with previous season rosters, rather than including the offseason moves and a new rookie class that we normally expect to see. This in turn has presented some issues, and necessary workarounds.

For example, the 16-bit version of NBA Live 96 included the expansion draft, as well as codes to easily replace Roster Players with rookies (and Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and assorted Legends!). Only one player in NBA Live 99 – Peja Stojakovic – could win Rookie of the Year in Season mode, though the official PC patch did add the Class of 1998, and any created rookies were also eligible for the award. NBA Full Court Press also received an official roster update. And then, there’s NBA 2K12, and its fictional placeholder rookies that stood in for the Class of 2011 until the lockout was lifted and a patch was released. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #555 of the NLSC Podcast!

Player Lock is arguably one of the most underrated gameplay features outside of its use in career and online team play modes, but picking a suitable role is paramount whichever mode you’re playing. To that end, this week we join the community in choosing the players that we’d most prefer to lock on, from a shortlist of notable names from the 2000s and today. We also reflect on the excitement of making a new video game purchase – especially when physical media is involved – and share some more advice for capturing highlights on the virtual hardwood, whether you’re playing on PC or console.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 41:25 — 28.8MB)

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!

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 battle between nostalgia goggles and recency bias.

For a long time – indeed, pretty much as soon as I hit my thirties ten years ago – I’ve found myself defending nostalgia. It’s not surprising. When we’re young, sneering at the older generation and all their silly likes and beliefs, we think we’ll be immune to suffering the same fate. After all, when you’re still in the younger demographic that pop culture is catering to, you don’t consider the next generation that’ll be mocking you the same way you’ve scornfully dismissed your elders! You don’t see yourself getting stuck in your ways, or your tastes and views ever becoming old-fashioned.

To once again reference an iconic and insightful scene from The Simpsons however, it’ll happen to you! You’ll realise just how divisive nostalgic opinions can be as the years go by. Not everyone is nostalgic of course, and the backlash to nostalgia – which often carries the accusation of wearing those proverbial nostalgia goggles – doesn’t just come from the younger crowd. It’s very strange to see one of your generational peers denouncing what you both grew up with, and claiming that new is always better, without any further nuance or exceptions. In any case, it draws up the generational battlelines as we accuse each other of recency bias, or donning nostalgia goggles.

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The 2025 season updates for NBA 2K14 keep coming, as you can see from today’s mod releases! Pep has released a pack of jersey sponsor updates, which you can download at the link below.

Pep
NBA Nike 2024/2025 Sponsors Updates

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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.

Dunks are definitely the motif once again in this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays, and who could blame the community? With apologies and all due respect to three-point enthusiasts out there, it is the most spectacular play in basketball! If you want proof, just check out this countdown that showcases spectacular slams coming off slick moves, savvy defensive plays, and lobs with pinpoint accuracy. Seven games are on display ranging from NBA Live 2001 to NBA 2K25, which is just another example of the timeless joy of throwing it down on the virtual hardwood. 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 basketball gaming theories that I can’t conclusively prove, but strongly suspect to be true.

Video games have attracted countless theories, rumours, and hoaxes throughout the years. From speculation about secrets to gossip about gameplay mechanics, these stories have spawned myths, legends…and occasionally, actually been correct! Yes, games are often designed to essentially cheat in order to give us a challenge. Yes, sometimes that rumoured hidden content is there (or at least, there’s a remnant of it). And yes, it’s hardly a wild conspiracy theory to suggest that so many modern Triple-A titles are being designed to push gamers towards microtransactions.

Of course, there are the theories that aren’t true: the secret that’s a hoax, the misguided belief as to why something is a certain way, and so on. These are the things that we’re so sure of, or want to believe, but they’ve been proven false. And then, we have the video game theories that we can’t conclusively prove – yet, anyway – but they haven’t necessarily been disproven, and seem quite likely. I’m not usually one for conspiracy theories – philosophical razors tend to make short work of most of them – but I do have a few related to basketball gaming that I am inclined to believe. Well, maybe not conspiracies as such, but they are five basketball gaming theories that I put stock in.

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If you’re bothered by branding on contemporary uniforms, then today’s NBA 2K25 mod releases are for you! CatScooter has released an update that removes sponsor patches from all the jerseys, which you can find at the link below.

CatScooter
Remove Brands From Jerseys

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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 midseason rosters in Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside.

Now that roster updates are common and viable on all platforms, we’re accustomed to midseason moves being officially represented in video games. In the 90s and into the early 2000s however, we generally had to make our own roster updates, even on PC. As such, there have been many brief stints and short-lived lineups that don’t appear in any official rosters due to occurring midseason, and being over by the time the next game is released. Outside of those rare official updates, the only way we’d see games reflect midseason rosters would be revised and re-released editions, and late launches.

That brings us to Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside, a Nintendo 64 exclusive released in 1998. Indeed, that is the key factor that sets it apart from other 1998 season titles such as NBA Live 98 and NBA Action 98/NBA Fastbreak ’98. Whereas those games were released in late 1997 ahead of or around the beginning of the season, NBA Courtside came out after the calendar rolled over to 1998, and thus features midseason rosters. To that end, it captures a unique snapshot of the 1998 season, with some stints and lineups that you won’t find in any other games. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #554 of the NLSC Podcast!

What is it that keeps us hooked on the virtual hardwood? This week, we join the community in sharing the reasons why we play basketball video games, ranging from a love of the sport, to bonding experiences with family and friends, to joyful fantasy and escapism. Following on from last week, we and our listeners pick three stars from the 2000s to bring into the modern NBA in their prime. In response to the end of online support for NBA Live 18, we note how the offline version of The One succeeds where MyCAREER fails nowadays. We also share an interesting tidbit about Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, and answer a question about bad basketball video games in another edition of Andrew Asks.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:09:28 — 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!

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 wasted potential of NBA Live 18, in the wake of its servers being shut down.

NBA Live 18 has recently (and unexpectedly) made its way back into my rotation. Admittedly, it wasn’t an unthinkable prospect. It’s always been the eighth gen NBA Live that I’ve liked best – not that that’s a high bar to clear – and Dee and I also had a fun co-op session with it using Parsec and the Xbox app. Still, I expected it to be an occasional novelty, yet it became a full-blown retro kick. I’ve been revisiting Ultimate Team with my squad of 90s All-Stars, working through the challenges in The One’s Pro-Am Tour, and even assembling some makeshift 2017 and 2025 rosters!

These sessions have reminded me that NBA Live 18 had some good bones, and plenty of potential. In fact, I’d say that I have an even more positive impression of the game than I did when it was new! Of course, that has brought about a mixture of delight and wistfulness. There’s always joy in rediscovering a game or seeing one in a new light, and expanding your rotation. Given that most of my recent retro basketball gaming kicks have been much older, it was also refreshing to find a new one that’s from the past decade. At the same time, even before the server shutdown, the fun I was having with NBA Live 18 was accompanied by nagging thoughts of squandered opportunity.

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