Tag Archives: 90s

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 saluting former NBA player Gary Grant, who celebrated his 61st birthday yesterday.

One telltale sign of a long-time hardcore NBA fan is the ability to recall some of the most obscure players from decades ago. Obviously it’s easy to remember the all-time greats that younger fans who weren’t even born yet have still heard of, and many of the other prominent players from yesteryear also stick in our minds. However, when you grow up obsessed with hoops – watching games, playing video games, collecting trading cards, reading magazines – you also remember the journeymen, deep bench reserves, and that one player who had a six-game stint with your favourite team!

That brings me to Gary Grant. Although I remember dozens of players from the 90s, I’m not inclined to profile all of them in Wayback Wednesday. To that end, Grant is definitely a special case! In addition to popping up in games I watched and becoming a very familiar face in packs of trading cards, he’s also been involved in some of my fondest basketball gaming memories. He also stuck around for more than a decade, which is no minor feat. It’s time to give Gary Grant his due on the real and virtual hardwood alike, so let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 basketball games that I’d love to add to my retro rotation in 2026.

With such a large collection of basketball video games and a predisposition for retro gaming, I’m not too bothered by my disinterest in more recent releases. Moreover, between a MyCAREER and historical matchups in NBA 2K14, a co-op NBA 2K9 Bulls Association with Dee, and a Bulls Dynasty in NBA Live 16, my retro basketball gaming rotation already has some enjoyable fixtures. There are also a handful of other retro favourites that frequently find their way back into my rotation, including NBA 2K17, NBA 2K6, and NBA Live 10.

Of course, there’s always room for other favourites! Furthermore, as fun as it is to have a retro kick begin unexpectedly and on a whim, there are some games that I’d like to make an effort to bring back into my rotation and enjoy anew. There was a time when I felt that certain games were getting too old to enjoy, but suffice it to say that I’ve changed my mind about that! Indeed, between unfinished business, playing different modes, and adding new content with mods, those old favourites can offer many fresh experiences. It remains to be seen how many of these titles re-enter my retro rotation, but they’re at the top of the list of games I’d love to revisit more often.

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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 going back to NBA Live 95 to trade players and create jersey swaps that represent their past stints.

Since another trade deadline is upon us, I feel like putting some players in different jerseys! Last month, I fired up NBA Live 95 for Super Nintendo to create some jersey swaps that represented future stints for a bunch of players. As I said in that article, I really enjoy the combination of video game nostalgia, NBA history, and a challenging exercise. Furthermore, I’ve always found the jersey swaps for traded players in NBA Live 95 for SNES to be a cool feature, one that I’ve come to appreciate even more on a technical level as a solution to the limited storage space on cartridges.

So, let’s talk about past stints for players that we can trade in NBA Live 95 SNES. As someone who really got into basketball in the mid 90s, I tend to associate the players from that era with the teams they were playing for when I first started watching the NBA and playing basketball video games. Of course, I soon found out that a number of players had begun their career elsewhere. It was sometimes difficult to imagine; a retroactive familiar faces in strange places situation! We can depict some of those past stints in NBA Live 95 using jersey swaps, so 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 reflecting on my feelings of nostalgia and indeed anemoia when playing with players from before my time in basketball games.

Like most people, my nostalgia for basketball and basketball gaming is intertwined. Whether I’m dusting off a classic game or playing with historical content in a newer title, I’m usually indulging my nostalgia for the 90s and 2000s. However, I’ve grown increasingly fond of playing with many of the Legends from before my time. This includes players who retired before I was even born, as well as those whose careers wrapped up shortly before I became a hardcore basketball fan in the mid 90s. Even though I didn’t grow up watching those players, they’re still nostalgic to me.

It may sound strange to have nostalgia for a time that I never experienced, but it’s not uncommon. In fact, John Koenig’s Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows has given a name to such feelings: the aforementioned anemoia. Needless to say, it applies to more than just basketball and basketball gaming, but it aptly describes my newfound enthusiasm for playing with players from before my time. Although it’s more of a recent habit for me, upon reflection, my introduction to basketball clearly laid the groundwork for such anemoia. Let’s take a look at how I’ve come to enjoy going back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #603 of the NLSC Podcast!

A week into the 2026 NBA season, the league has been rocked by a gambling scandal. Not only that, but many fans – us included – have been irritated by the amount of flopping and free throws on display. This week, we join the community in discussing the gambling scandal and the way it throws the league’s credibility into doubt, issues with officiating and the style of play, and a few other NBA matters that are getting us down. We also talk about whether playing basketball video games makes up for feeling disappointed with real hoops, before wrapping up with some stories about the times we’ve been ejected on the virtual hardwood.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:03:56 — 44.3MB)

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!

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 Legends teams that would’ve been viable in eighth generation NBA Live titles.

A couple of years ago, I reflected on the misuse of Legends in NBA Live. While the series made a big splash with historical content when Michael Jordan and other all-time greats were added in NBA Live 2000, it’s had countless missed opportunities since then. From losing the rights to include certain Legends to leaving them out of the seventh generation releases entirely, NBA Live hasn’t done an impressive job with historical content. Legends were thankfully present in the eighth generation NBA Live games, but were exclusive to specific modes.

This is one of the reasons why Ultimate Team has been one of my favourite modes in eighth gen NBA Live: it’s where I can actually play with Legends! Of course, I wish that they were more readily available. To that point, some people have argued that that wouldn’t be feasible, as it would draw attention to how thin NBA Live’s historical content is compared to what’s on offer in NBA 2K. However, while NBA 2K does boast a massive array of retro players and classic squads, eighth gen NBA Live games could’ve viably included some Legends teams. 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 NBA Jam Extreme.

I remember the excitement I felt when I saw a promotion for NBA Jam Extreme in a magazine. NBA Jam Tournament Edition had already solidified my love of Jam, so I was naturally keen on the prospect of a new game with updated rosters. The promo used the game’s cover art: a shot of Shawn Kemp soaring to the rim and throwing it down over Hakeem Olajuwon. The Reignman was actually my cousin’s favourite player growing up and thus I’d become a fan of him as well, so making Kemp the face of NBA Jam Extreme gave it some extra coolness right out of the gate.

And then of course, there’s the name itself: NBA Jam Extreme. Back in the 90s, the word EXTREME often implied that something was cool with a capital C (or a capital K, because again, it was the 90s!). In short, twelve-year-old me had ample reason to be hyped for a new NBA Jam game. As it turned out though, I never got to play NBA Jam Extreme back in the day, as I instead moved on to NBA Hangtime. Honestly, I’d have to say that that was for the best! Nevertheless, it was interesting to finally get my hands on NBA Jam Extreme all these years later. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 rosters that I’d like to make for NBA Live 06 PC.

Even though I haven’t been as active in the modding community as I was during the heyday of NBA Live on PC, the lure to tinker with the games I’m playing has always been there. Admittedly I haven’t been moved to mod recent NBA 2K games any more than I have been to play them, but should a future release capture my interest, I won’t rule out the possibility. For now though, just as I’ve gravitated towards retro gaming, I’m far more interested in creating mods for old favourites that find their way back into my rotation…or new old favourites, as the case may be.

One old favourite that I’d like to play more often and mod once again is NBA Live 06 PC. Although it was generally well-received in its day – and in my view, is the last great all-around release in the NBA Live series – that may sound like a strange choice. Compared to games such as NBA 2K13 and NBA 2K14, it doesn’t have the same significant following several years after its release. To that end, I accept that any rosters that I create for NBA Live 06 will be niche projects, and indeed likely largely for my own use. That doesn’t mean I can’t and shouldn’t create them, though! They’re worth considering at least, and to that point, here are five ideas that I have in mind.

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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 NBA ShootOut, also known as Total NBA ’96.

With NBA 2K’s dominance over the virtual hardwood going back to the seventh generation consoles, it’s easy to forget that NBA Live was once the name in sim basketball video games. Its predecessor, the NBA Playoff series, had some strong competition in the form of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball, but the revamp with NBA Live 95 firmly established EA Sports as the top brand in the genre. NBA Live 96 was a strong follow-up, particularly on PC. Of course, other companies were still willingly throwing their hat into the ring with alternatives to compete with NBA Live.

I’ve enjoyed finally getting my hands on several of those alternatives in recent years. That includes Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s NBA ShootOut, titled Total NBA ’96 in PAL regions. Although it was never the top dog in the genre, it did tip off a series of games that competed with NBA Live, and later NBA 2K, right through to the 2004 season. As with many of the alternatives to the two biggest brands, the NBA ShootOut series ultimately fell short of truly challenging them, but it had a handful of interesting ideas from the very first release. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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We’ve got a couple of mod releases to spice up the Eras rosters in NBA 2K25 today, as texacali has created LeBron Era court updates for the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, while Allyc4t has released some 1997 Indiana Pacers courts. Check them out at the links below!

texacali
Philadelphia 76ers LeBron Era Court
Milwaukee Bucks LeBron Era Court

Allyc4t
Indiana Pacers 1996-97 Courts

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 putting some Legends back in uniform in NBA 2K9.

As I’ve mentioned before, whenever I’m hooked on an older basketball video game, part of my retro kick involves messing around with the rosters. I particularly enjoy this is in any game that has Legends and retro jerseys, as it allows me to set up some historical scenarios. While playing NBA 2K9 ahead of producing my retrospective, I ended up putting many of the Legends back in uniform. It turned out to be a fun way to talk about some strange stints that weren’t captured in the rosters of any other video games (aside from one that I felt was too important not to cover).

Before I re-created those examples of familiar faces in strange places using NBA 2K9 though, I was placing Legends back in the uniforms that they famously wore. It may seem like an unusual thing to do when there are so many games – and for that matter, mods – that allow me to play with historical rosters. However, there’s just something really fun and satisfying about messing around with a game’s retro content! NBA 2K9 doesn’t feature the largest selection of Legends in the 2K series, but it has enough to depict some memorable moments in NBA history. 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 iconic point after a dunk in NBA Live 95.

The National Basketball Association is extremely image-conscious to say the least! Throughout the years, they’ve tried to curb behaviour by players and coaches that may harm their reputation, including taking a zero-tolerance approach to complaints to the referees after a whistle. Of course, in practice, this has usually just meant that their favoured stars still get to have their say, while role players are assessed a technical foul for rolling their eyes! The NBA has also discouraged taunting, which is why the late Dikembe Mutombo had to make a point of wagging his finger towards the crowd.

Unsurprisingly – and honestly, quite fairly – the NBA retains control over how it is portrayed in licensed products, including video games. This means that we won’t see unsportsmanlike technical fouls, brawls, or anything else the league doesn’t want to spotlight, represented on the virtual hardwood. Therefore, it’s funny to think that a blatant display of taunting was once prominently featured in an NBA video game! That is of course the point after throwing down a dunk in NBA Live 95, something that long-time hoops gamers nostalgically recall. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #570 of the NLSC Podcast!

Is nostalgia actively ruining the NBA? Channing Frye and other talking heads certainly seem to think so, but frankly, we have a very different take on the matter! This week, we join the community in providing an impassioned rebuttal to yet another asinine talking point that’s blatantly intended to disrespectfully dump on the league’s history, and the many great players of the past. We also reflect on why so many fans are yearning for a return to the NBA of yesteryear or simply not enjoying the current product, and respond to the notion that today’s players are unfairly criticised compared to their predecessors; a ridiculous suggestion to those of us who were actually watching basketball back then!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 55:30 — 38.5MB)

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!

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 whether to create 1996, 1997, or 1998 season rosters, as I consider future modding projects.

As I’ve said before, in order to stand the best chance of completing any major roster projects that I attempt moving forward, I need to pick an idea that I’m invested in, for a game that I want to play. When it comes to the games that I’d most like to play and mod, NBA Live 06 PC is definitely one of the frontrunners. As far as roster projects, I’d prefer something nostalgic over a current season update. This includes an Ultimate Jordan roster, various classic team rosters, and if I can assemble the appropriate assets and viable placeholders, at least one complete retro season mod.

To that end, I have a few seasons in mind. My work with NBA 2K6 for Xbox 360 has demonstrated how 2006 season games can be effectively rolled back a few years, and such projects can be made even better on PC with all of the modding capabilities. I’ll always be drawn to the idea of bringing the 90s into a 21st century favourite though, but that raises the question of which year. Being a 90s kid and Chicago Bulls fan, the 1996, 1997, and 1998 seasons are all prime candidates when mulling the possibilities for retro rosters. However, even if I were to create all of them for NBA Live 06 PC or another game, I’d still need to pick one to start with. So: 1996, 1997, or 1998 rosters?

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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 pondering a historical What If; namely, what if Karl Malone broke the all-time scoring record?

Welcome to what I hope will be a recurring Wayback Wednesday feature, in which I explore some intriguing NBA What Ifs, illustrated by basketball video games! For a hardcore basketball and history buff, diving into the league’s biggest What Ifs can be just as interesting as reflecting on real events, results, and records. What small change would have a huge impact on NBA history? Which important events that defined the legacies of teams and players are dependent on a particular decision or twist of fate? For want of a nail, what possible butterfly effects can we imagine?

Considering that I remain a huge fan of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, you might think that I’d be inclined to explore a hypothetical involving them. After all, for all of their success during the 90s, there are a couple of What Ifs there! I will get to them at some point as I do have my own opinions to share, but they’re popular NBA What Ifs that have been discussed many times before. As such, for my first What If, I’m imagining a timeline where Karl Malone breaks the all-time scoring record. It’s a once-feasible event that’s hardly discussed now, so let’s take a look back…way back…

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