Tag Archives: Julius Erving

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 Stretch and the rest of the OG NBA Street ballers.

With a spiritual successor in NBA The Run set to launch next month, NBA Street has definitely been on our minds as of late. As it happens, next month also marks 25 years since the original NBA Street was released. For basketball gamers of a certain age, that first NBA Street was the arcade basketball video game, held in higher regard than any of the NBA Jam titles. It certainly makes sense as it was a tremendous game that still holds up. Furthermore, by the early 2000s, the NBA Jam name had sadly come to be associated with some subpar releases.

I’ll be diving deeper into that with a retrospective next month. For now though, I’m reminiscing about Stretch and the other OG NBA Street ballers. In addition to placing NBA players on the blacktop, NBA Street introduced us to some memorable original characters. These ballers were basically the bosses of the City Circuit, standing in between us and the next location. Once we beat them, we could benefit from their streetball skill as they joined our squad. Stretch and the rest of the OG NBA Street ballers are undoubtedly legends, so let’s take a look back…way back…

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Having had a few roster projects go up in smoke due to burnout over the years, these days I’m sticking to manageable projects for games that I want to play; namely, old favourites. To that end, I’ve been dabbling with a 1976 ABA roster for NBA Live 06 PC – tentatively titled NBA Live ’76 – and I’ve uploaded some highlights from a recent game using the work-in-progress mod.

In the game, I take on the CPU-controlled San Antonio Spurs using the New York Nets. At this time, several players are using placeholder faces, but big names such as Julius Erving and George Gervin do have their actual likenesses. A handful of other players also have proper faces courtesy of retro mods from the archives. Both the Nets and Spurs are wearing their ABA-era jerseys and have the correct throwback logos, though all of the teams in the roster are currently using a generic floor with their respective logos at midcourt.

There’s still a ways to go with this retro roster project for NBA Live 06 PC, but as you can see from the highlights, it’s shaping up nicely! Between the ABA only having eight teams by the end of its 1976 season, the mods in our archives, and placeholder faces, I’m confident that it’ll all come together and be fun to play with. Although the ABA was before my time, it’s a fascinating part of basketball history, and the league is severely underrepresented in video games.

Check out the highlights below, and stay tuned for more info on NBA Live ’76 and other modding projects for NBA Live 06! Once again, these days I’m focusing my attention on mods for old favourites that’ll enhance my retro gaming, and projects like this will definitely help NBA Live 06 get back into my rotation. Incidentally, if there are any NBA Live modders still lurking in the community who’d like to lend a hand with some jerseys and so forth, please let me know!

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #594 of the NLSC Podcast!

With NBA 2K26 right around the corner, a community event has given us all a detailed look at this year’s game in action. Although we’re reserving final judgement until we get our hands on the sticks, we have a few thoughts about what we’ve seen so far. We also discuss what some of the influencers who attended the event are saying about the game, in particular how they’re shouting down valid criticisms in rather disrespectful ways. We also react to the Courtside Report on MyNBA and MyGM, and join the community in picking some of our all-time favourite basketball nicknames. Some of our choices probably won’t be surprising, but we also shout out some creative monikers that don’t get enough credit.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 53:29 — 37.1MB)

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!

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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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!

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #547 of the NLSC Podcast!

Although we’re still playing NBA 2K25 and have a few updates on what we’ve been doing in it, we have been talking about the game at length for a number of shows now, so this week we’re putting it on the backburner. To that end, we recap a fun session playing NBA Live 06 PC with a work-in-progress ABA mod, and reflect on the league’s legacy and importance in the history of basketball. We also join the community in reminiscing about fun and weird ideas and approaches that we’ve employed in fantasy drafts, as well as some of the most memorable transactions – good or bad – that our favourite teams have made during all of our years following the NBA.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:14:41 — 51.6MB)

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!

I’ve enjoyed making the NBA 2K14 Retro Series a more regular feature on our YouTube channel so far this year. However, I’ll actually have to play some more of those games as I’m now at the end of the footage that I captured prior to my old desktop crashing late last year! I’m presenting a fun showdown in the meantime though, as Julius Erving and the 1985 Philadelphia 76ers clash with Sidney Moncrief and the 1985 Milwaukee Bucks.

The 1985 76ers are one of NBA 2K’s oddball classic teams; not because they aren’t a good squad to include and a sensible one for Dr. J’s NBA’s Greatest challenge, but because in real life, they featured a rookie Charles Barkley. You won’t find Sir Charles on the team in the game of course, and since the PlayStation 4 version of NBA 2K14 doesn’t support modding (or even Create-a-Player), he’s conspicuously absent in this re-creation. Nevertheless, The Doctor is in vintage form, Sidney Moncrief is at the top of his game for the Bucks, and the game produced some great 80s NBA action. Check it out!

I’m not sure which showdown and era will be featured next, but the NBA 2K14 Retro Series is a lot of fun to produce, so there’ll be more to come! Until then, please subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content, and feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play.

As Dee and I noted in Episode #461 of the NLSC Podcast, we’re back on our Road Trip in NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, producing highlights along the way. In our most recent session, we finished up with the New Jersey Nets’ Bronze challenge, using two of our favourite players: Julius Erving and Darryl Dawkins.

When the game was done, Dee whipped up a highlight reel of our best plays, and uploaded it to the NLSC YouTube channel. Although we weren’t successful in breaking the backboard with Dawkins on this occasion, we were still able to use the Philadelphia 76ers legends to put on a show! With two such prolific and spectacular dunkers, there wasn’t much call to bomb away from downtown; though, as you’ll see, Dr. J did dial long distance in impressive fashion. NBA Jam: On Fire Edition remains a blast to this day, as I’m sure these highlights will demonstrate.

Once again, I invite everyone to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel, where you’ll find many more highlight reels, and other original basketball gaming content. It’s an effort that Dee has been spearheading over the past couple of years, and I can promise that the fun will continue in 2023!

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 NBA Finals series that can be portrayed by NBA 2K14 on PlayStation 4.

The time I’ve spent with the PlayStation 4 version of NBA 2K14 is one of the longest retro basketball gaming kicks I’ve ever been on. It’s been extremely rewarding to play through four full seasons in MyCAREER, leaving me with a save file jam packed with memories that I can pick up again whenever the mood strikes. I also played a number of exhibition games with retro teams and then-current 2014 rosters alike. In short, I was making up for not spending that much time with NBA 2K14 when it was released almost ten years ago.

Much like my extended NBA Live 10 kick in 2021, I’ve felt inspired to continue to explore NBA 2K14 through some Wayback Wednesday features. Today, it’s a look at all of the NBA Finals series that can be portrayed through NBA 2K14 screenshots. As with my features looking back at the players in NBA Live 10 whose rookie jerseys were included as retros, as well as the makeshift classic teams that could be created and using it to reflect on “What If” scenarios, it was an interesting challenge to see just how many NBA Finals series I could represent using NBA 2K14. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #435 of the NLSC Podcast!

Barring a very surprising announcement, NBA Live won’t be back in 2022. However, EA Sports has a golden opportunity to make a triumphant return with NBA Live 24 in 2023. The question is, how do they sell it to basketball gamers, and meet their expectations? We posed the question to the community, and received many enthusiastic answers as to what would encourage gamers to switch back to NBA Live, or double dip with NBA Live and NBA 2K. An old story about Julius Erving and the Utah Jazz also prompts us to consider interesting scenarios for a “What If” roster mod, and we recap a fun co-op session of NBA Inside Drive 2003 over Parsec.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:54:40 — 79.1MB)

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!

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 longevity records players have set on the virtual hardwood.

With the Atlanta Hawks’ 2020 season officially over, Vince Carter has officially retired after 22 seasons in the league. The player once dubbed Half-Man, Half-Amazing, has certainly had a wholly amazing career. Beyond his breathtaking dunks, 360 layups, and other highlights, Carter set new marks for longevity, not only by playing the most seasons in NBA history, but also becoming the first player to appear in four different decades. Not bad for a player who briefly gained a reputation – albeit one that was somewhat overblown – for being fragile and constantly injured!

Needless to say, Vince Carter’s lengthy NBA career has set a few records in video games as well. However, he’s not the only player who holds some longevity-based distinctions on the virtual hardwood. I ran through these in Episode #329 of the NLSC Podcast, but I know that audio content isn’t for everyone, and it pays to have trivia like this written down as well. These records span many years of basketball gaming, so 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 reimagining NBA’s Greatest in NBA 2K12.

I had a lot of fun reimagining The Jordan Challenge back in June, so I thought I’d give the same treatment to NBA’s Greatest. As I remarked in my retrospective on NBA’s Greatest, it was a fantastic follow-up to The Jordan Challenge, and added new content to NBA 2K12 with the lockout of 2011 delaying the inclusion of the new rookies and updated rosters. The level of detail with the retro presentation was very impressive, and it’s a feature that would be really fun to have when playing with historical teams in future NBA 2K games.

However, as with The Jordan Challenge, NBA’s Greatest wasn’t perfect. Looking back, there are a few ways it could’ve been better, and teams that would’ve been preferable. As with my previous reimagining, this isn’t intended to disparage the work that Visual Concepts put into NBA’s Greatest, but rather consider what might have been if not for a few legal barriers, and how an already fantastic mode could be made even better. 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 the introduction video for NBA 2K12.

Although NBA 2K11 was a tough act to follow, I would suggest that NBA 2K12 was up to the challenge. Continuing to improve upon the gameplay of its predecessor, it also successfully expanded the historical content we’ve come to associate with the NBA 2K series. The Jordan Challenge gave way to NBA’s Greatest, a mode featuring fantastic production values and several of the best teams in the NBA history on top of MJ’s Bulls. The game was hampered by the absence of the Class of 2011 rookies at launch owing to the lockout, but official roster updates would later resolve that issue.

Firing up NBA 2K12 for the first time immediately got you in the mood to play with the new historical teams, with an introduction video that I once ranked as the best among basketball games. Although we’ve seen some slick intros in the years since, there’s still a strong case for NBA 2K12’s boot-up remaining in the top spot. As such, I thought I’d look back at it this week, and the real highlights that inspired several moments in the intro. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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