Tag Archives: Alonzo Mourning

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 ESPN NBA 2Night.

Although Konami has produced some classic releases that earned them a reputation as one of the most iconic video game developers, the virtual hardwood was never their best genre. That’s not to say that their basketball games have all been terrible. Indeed, their sim-arcade hybrid titles that include Run and Gun, NBA Give ‘n Go, NBA in the Zone, and NBA in the Zone 2 are nostalgic favourites for many long-time basketball gamers. They provided an experience that found a good middle ground between the more serious approach of NBA Live, and the over-the-top style of NBA Jam.

However, as sim-oriented basketball games were improving and becoming deeper and more realistic in the late 90s and early 2000s, Konami’s releases were soon outclassed. From gameplay and graphics to modes and features, they fell short of NBA Live, as well as new contenders in the space such as the emerging NBA 2K series. At the same time, Konami’s NBA games did find an audience, and some of them had their good points; or at the very least, a few interesting ideas! For better or worse, ESPN NBA 2Night is a great example of that. 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 players who ended up being notable names in the free agents pool in video games.

In a previous article, I mentioned that a number of future Hall of Fame players and other notable names have appeared in the free agents pool in various titles. Needless to say, they stand out among the selection of veteran journeymen and other far less prominent players. It was undoubtedly weird to see those all-time greats, multi-time all-stars, and other notable mainstays in the league languishing in the free agents pool. Once again though, they facilitated countless roster projects. Of course, it also led to some strange sights when CPU teams picked them up in franchise modes!

Obviously, there are reasons that notable names have occasionally turned up in the free agents pool of video games, particularly towards the end of their careers. Also, because older games came out on different platforms at different times, there were differences in their rosters. As such, not all versions of a game featured the same notable names among their array of unsigned free agents. I can’t pass up a chance to discuss NBA history when there’s a connection to basketball gaming trivia, and there are definitely some interesting stories here. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Happy New Year, basketball gamers! I hope you’ll join us throughout 2023 to discuss basketball video games, share and download mods, and enjoy our original content. To that end, I’m tipping off the New Year with the next instalment in the NBA 2K14 Retro Series, featuring the ’93 Bulls taking on the ’93 Hornets.

Can you believe this matchup is a throwback to thirty years ago? As much I’m trying not to think about that, I had a blast replaying it in NBA 2K14, a game that turns ten this year. This clash between the two-time defending champion Bulls and an up-and-coming Hornets team gave us some exciting moments in real life, and also inspired Michael Jordan’s challenge in NBA 2K12’s NBA’s Greatest mode. MJ was in his prime at this point, so you can expect a mixture of high-flying dunks and savvy plays. Scottie Pippen, Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson, and Muggsy Bogues also contributed to the highlight reel, presented with post-production effects to resemble a broadcast from the 90s.

You can catch up on the entire NBA 2K14 Retro Series using this playlist! While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We’ve been stepping up our video content over the past couple of years – an initiative that Dee has been spearheading – and that’s definitely going to continue throughout 2023. So, stay tuned, and feel free to suggest historical matchups for me to play in future instalments of this series!

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 stints that lasted longer than I remembered, and the games that corrected me.

I’ll never claim to be an infallible source of knowledge, whether I’m talking about real basketball or basketball video games. There’s a lot of stuff I remember off the top of my head, but I’ve certainly found that it pays to double-check and look things up. When it comes to the players I grew up watching, I tend to have a good memory as far as who they played for, how long they played for them, and when they moved on to a new team. However, my recall definitely isn’t perfect. As such, when I revisit an old game, I’m sometimes surprised to see a player still on a particular team’s roster.

Yes, this is another example of basketball video games being interactive almanacs. As I’ve said, it’s one of the most appealing parts of dusting off old video games: seeing that snapshot of the NBA at the time they were developed. Just as there’s something really fun about seeing familiar faces in strange places, or back in familiar places for that matter, it’s interesting to be reminded of stints that lasted longer than I recalled. As usual, I’m looking at these examples through the lens of the games that reminded me of these tenures. With that being said, let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 ten more familiar faces who found themselves back in familiar places.

Just as there are have been several familiar faces that ended up in strange places, there are more familiar faces who made it back to familiar places than I can possibly fit into just one list of ten! To that end, I’m also making this spinoff topic an ongoing series for Wayback Wednesday. As I previously noted, these homecomings can be just as interesting as the strange stints of well-known players, as they can also end up flying under the radar and being forgotten due to being unremarkable returns. In other cases, it’s the original stint with a team that is overlooked.

Either way, they’re fun to look back on. We can obviously do that by going back and watching old games, but it’s also possible to revisit these tenures through the virtual hardwood. I’ve grown quite fond of referring to basketball video games as interactive almanacs and time capsules to the point where I’m probably overusing the expression. It is quite apt though, and with that in mind, I’m using video games to demonstrate these examples of familiar faces back in familiar places. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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