NLSC Your source for basketball video 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 pondering another historical NBA What If, specifically what if Kobe Bryant broke the all-time scoring record?

Even before he became a star, many people had correctly predicted that Kobe Bryant would go down as one of the all-time greats. There’s a reason that he was tapped to be the cover player and namesake of the NBA Courtside series, and also appeared on the cover of NBA Action 98 – a forerunner of NBA 2K – while still a bench player in his second season. Robert Horry certainly believed in his young teammate back then. I recall a magazine article published during the 1998 season that quoted Big Shot Bob’s claim that Kobe Bryant would be the one to finally break the all-time scoring record.

While that prediction didn’t come true, it wasn’t too far off the mark! Kobe ended up joining the 30,000 point club, finishing his career third on the all-time scoring leaders after surpassing Michael Jordan. Throw in his countless incredible performances and career accomplishments including five rings, and it’s no wonder that a lot of fans felt that Bleacher Report ranking him as the 11th best player in history was insulting. That raises an interesting question: would Kobe Bryant have a different legacy if he had in fact broken the all-time scoring record? Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #593 of the NLSC Podcast!

As the NBA 2K26 preview season rolls on, the big news revealed last week was that the WNBA has now been integrated into MyTEAM, which includes the ability to team WNBA players up with current NBA players and Legends. The announcement certainly drew some mixed reactions from the wider basketball gaming community, so this week we’re providing our take on the situation – from the discourse to our opinions on the news itself – and also reading out some thoughts from our listeners. We also react to some of the other key points that were outlined in the NBA 2K26 MyTEAM Courtside Report, from Game Changer Cards to the promise of greater rewards throughout the mode.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 58:05 — 40.2MB)

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!

An exciting new mod is now available, as eskayelle and Wake have released NBA Jam 50 for the PlayStation version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition! As you may recall, eskayelle has previously released some excellent mods for the Super Nintendo version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, including NBA Jam 2K20 and the Double Z mod.

NBA Jam 50 celebrates the last fifty years in basketball as it features players from 1975 through to 2025, along with some special characters. I’ll let the official description tell the full story here:

Get ready to razzle some dazzle with many of the greatest (and some questionable…) players from 1975 through 2025! Celebrating the last 50 years of basketball (and – in NBA Jam style – pop culture), NBA Jam 50 for PlayStation is a full art assets (portraits, heads, sound clips, etc.) update from the minds of Double Z and Wake that overlays the wackiness of those previous Double Z Mods on top of ponlork’s NBA Jam 2K22 engine. Get ready for some crazy mashups and matchups with the likes of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Bronny James, Steph Curry, Larry Bird, Vince Carter, Magic Johnson, Shaq, Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups, Victor Wembanyama, and many more!

Do you BELIEVE in NBA Jam 50? You can’t see it till you play it, brother!

Pick up the mod here in our Downloads database! For more information and previews, please see this topic in the Forum. Shout out to eskayelle and Wake for another fantastic release for one of the best arcade basketball games ever made! As always, we appreciate modders who are dedicated to making amazing roster projects available to everyone free of charge. I’m still hoping that we can figure out how to mod the PC version of NBA Jam TE at some point, but for now, it’s great to see these ROM hacks for the SNES, PlayStation, and original arcade releases. In the meantime, check out NBA Jam 50, and let us know what you think!

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 my suggestions on how to fix the connected experiences in MyCAREER.

This is far from the first time that I’ve discussed criticisms of the competitive scene in NBA 2K, specifically the online team play experiences connected to MyCAREER. To that point, I’m going to be treading some familiar ground here today, from grinding to proper matchmaking functionality. That’s because the same issues continue to hold back the connected experiences in MyCAREER, and improvements are well overdue. As popular as the online scene in NBA 2K may be, the quality of the experience lags behind other games, and is nowhere near where it needs to be.

You can see the frustration everywhere. It’s been mentioned in our Forum, over on Operation Sports, on social media, and in numerous threads in the official NBA 2K subreddit. So many gamers see the issues, and apart from the ones who want to shout down all criticism – usually thanks to selfish zero-sum thinking – people want to see the scene improve. The concepts of the connected modes in MyCAREER have the potential to be so much better than they are, and I speak from my own experience when I say that they’ve shown flashes of that brilliance. Until these improvements are made however, the connected experiences in MyCAREER will continue to suffer.

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The latest Courtside Report previews The W in NBA 2K26. For those who are unfamiliar with the mode, it’s the WNBA’s answer to MyCAREER, and is only available in the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game.

Compared to the MyTEAM blog, it’s a much shorter preview. Some of the key features that are spotlighted include the new Pre-Draft Interviews, GOAT Challenges, Press Conferences, and Social Media interactions. Basically, The W in NBA 2K26 will include more of the features and off-court flavour content that we’ve seen in NBA MyCAREER over the years.

As always, I’d encourage you to check out the blog for the full scoop, but you can also find my summary of the key points below. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, as well as join in the discussion in our NBA 2K26 Forum!

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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.

Whenever the NLSC Top 10 Plays begins with Headband Kobe throwing down a vicious dunk, you know that it’s setting the bar high for the rest of the countdown! On top of breathtaking dunks, slick dishes, wild alley-oops, clutch plays, big swats, and jaw-dropping ankle breakers, there are some great mods on display. Of course, while we’re big fans of mods around these parts, vanilla games can still be fun too, as you’ll see in the plays from NBA 2K6 and NBA Live 19. Seven different games are on display this week, including a rare appearance from NCAA Final Four 2002. 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.

A new Courtside Report has provided insights into MyTEAM in NBA 2K26. 2K also posted a video breaking down the additions and enhancements, hosted by NBA 2K Principal Producer and former NLSC Team member JaoSming.

Not surprisingly, it’s one of the most in-depth developer blogs so far this preview season, as there’s a ton of content in MyTEAM. The biggest news is definitely the integration of the WNBA, which will allow WNBA players to play alongside current and historical NBA players. There will also be a WNBA tier in Domination.

Other major points of interest include the addition of Gauntlet to Breakout, a night time version of NBA 2K15’s Sunset Park for Triple Threat Park, expansions to The Exchange, and an effort to grant more rewards throughout all of the submodes. Eras presentation has been upgraded with some new filters and historical arenas, and cinematic walkouts are back when collecting top cards.

As always, I encourage you to read the entire blog for the full scoop, but I have summarised the key points below. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, as well as join in the discussion in our NBA 2K26 Forum! Dee and I will be continuing our coverage of the NBA 2K26 preview season on the NLSC Podcast, so stay tuned for our reactions to the latest news.

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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 a list of five times that basketball games genuinely made us feel.

Great works of art and entertainment make us feel something, no matter the medium. Admittedly, when it comes to basketball video games, what we feel is mostly the joy of victory, the agony of defeat, and the excitement of a spectacular play. Such is the nature of the genre, after all. However, there are times when the virtual hardwood evokes other emotional responses. Story-driven modes, immersive world-building features, and real world tributes, have all managed to hit basketball gamers right in the feels at one time or another.

Personally, I appreciate those moments even if they aren’t necessarily what basketball video games are all about. I enjoy good storytelling in video games, and while those narratives may be more suited to RPGs, open world games, and other genres, there’s a place for compelling tales in hoops titles as well. As for tributes and memorials, they help us to celebrate, mourn, and feel connected. They may not be essential ingredients – at the end of the day, games that provide an outstanding basketball experience are the ones we’re most fond of – but I’d still like to acknowledge the moments that made us feel, either through artistic expression, or a heart-warming display of humanity.

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As you may have seen, the official NBA 2K social media accounts have begun to reveal the ratings of players in NBA 2K26. I’ve admittedly been skipping over the ratings reveals in recent years, but in the spirit of approaching NBA 2K26 with more optimism and enthusiasm, I figured that I’d make them part of our coverage of the preview season this time around.

So far, we know the top ten three-point shooters, midrange shooters, ball handlers, speediest players, stealers, shot blockers, and rookies. There probably won’t be too many surprises in the lists, with Stephen Curry still ranking as the league’s best long-range bomber, Victor Wembanyama standing above everyone in blocks, and first overall pick Cooper Flagg being top of the class.

Read on for all the ratings that have been revealed so far, and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, as well as join in the discussion in our NBA 2K26 Forum! MyTEAM news is also coming this week, so stay tuned for my summary of the key points of that Courtside Report. Also be sure to listen to Episode #592 of the NLSC Podcast, where Dee and I covered the Courtside Report on presentation.

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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 reflecting on manipulating cutscenes in basketball video games.

Cutscenes have been in basketball video games for decades. In early titles such as Double Dribble, the rotoscoped dunks spiced up the action in a game that otherwise had very limited animation. Tecmo Super NBA Basketball also added further detail through the use of cutscenes, though some gamers felt they interrupted the flow of the gameplay. That’s certainly a common criticism of Arch Rivals, which displayed a cutaway after every basket. In more recent games, there have been options to cut to a different angle on wide open dunks, or a three-pointer made with a Green Release.

The Courtside Comedy of NBA Live 2003 produced rather infamous cutscenes! And of course, the MyCAREER stories rely heavily on cutscenes to tell their tales. Those types of cutscenes tend to be more divisive compared to starting lineup introductions, instant replays, and championship celebrations, which are considered an essential ingredient in achieving authentic presentation. Over the years, we’ve found ways of manipulating cutscenes to portray specific scenarios, whether it’s for greater accuracy or simply for the sake of humour. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #592 of the NLSC Podcast!

Next up in the NBA 2K26 preview season is a deep dive into the presentation in this year’s game! To that end, this week we’re breaking down the Presentation Courtside Report and giving our thoughts on everything from the updated lighting, player models, and team arenas to the additions and enhancements to commentary, and other authentic details. In addition to our reactions, we also share what the community had to say about the insights into presentation in NBA 2K26. We also discuss some of our favourite virtual hardwood commentators, and name potential replacements for the current crop of announcers.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 55:38 — 38.6MB)

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!

In case you missed it – because between NBA 2K26 news and playing other things, I certainly did – Patch 9.0 was released for NBA 2K25 last week. You’ve probably already got it at this point, but if you don’t, it should come through automatically as long as you’re online. If it doesn’t, try restarting your console/Steam client, or checking for updates manually.

Unsurprisingly for what will likely be the last “major” update for NBA 2K25, there are no official release notes for Patch 9.0. However, it basically updated the game for Season 9 in MyCAREER and MyTEAM, which will essentially be running until the servers are shut down next year. As people have noted over on Reddit, with NBA 2K26 looming and the preview season underway, the Season 9 rewards are somewhat underwhelming.

Although there were no official patch notes, I’ve added the release dates to the NBA 2K25 update history in our Wiki. If you have any final thoughts about the updates for NBA 2K25 – or the game in general – feel free to share them in the comments below, as well as in the NBA 2K25 section of the Forum! As for NBA 2K26, more news will be coming this week. Dee and I will be discussing last week’s presentation blog in Episode #592 of the NLSC Podcast, so stay tuned for that as well.

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 “realism” is rapidly becoming a dirty word among basketball gamers.

We all have our own ideas of what makes for a fun basketball video game. Beyond a preference between the sim and arcade styles, we each have a vision of what games in those subgenres should be like. Obviously, sim gamers have traditionally preferred a realistic approach to the virtual hardwood, though opinions will vary as to what that realism should entail. However, when the sim titles were primarily aimed at hardcore basketball fans, there was usually more unity in calls for the games to be as realistic as possible. The notion that realism didn’t matter was certainly an unpopular view.

It’s why Da_Czar’s catchphrase of “don’t play video games; play basketball!” became a creed that resonated with so many simheads, and why there was excitement when he joined the development team at Visual Concepts. After all, if Take-Two was going to hire anyone to help in the continued efforts to strive for realism in their NBA series, Da_Czar was an ideal choice! As NBA 2K’s popularity has grown however, there’s been a noticeable shift in attitude. More and more people are saying “who cares about real basketball, it’s just a game!” Sim gamers are suddenly the ones being labelled as “casuals”, and realism is being treated as a dirty word when talking about sim titles.

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Today’s mod releases for NBA 2K17 feature another shoe update from BattlePhenom, this time the Nike Kobe 7 Galaxy All-Stars. Check it out at the link below!

BattlePhenom
Nike Kobe 7 Galaxy All-Star

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 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.

One of my favourite parts of the Courtside Countdown in NBA Action back in the day – apart from Michael Jordan highlights, of course – was seeing players pull off something truly wild, unique, and unexpected. As it happens, this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays delivers on both fronts! The top two entries in this week’s countdown may not have been in the game plan, but they nevertheless worked out in spectacular fashion. Before we get to them however, it’s a devastating dunk show, and MJ is one of the players providing aerial wizardry. 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.