Tag Archives: Larry Bird

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #616 of the NLSC Podcast!

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you witnessed some of the biggest moments in the history of basketball? This week, we join the community in recalling how we personally experienced memorable events in hoops, NBA or otherwise. These range from exciting plays, favourite highlights, and incredible outcomes, to league-changing trades and announcements, to truly shocking and saddening news. In short, there have been plenty of moments during our time watching basketball that have stuck with us for one reason or another! As we discuss, these memories are often intertwined with other aspects of our lives, making them all the more vivid even decades later.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 50:17 — 34.9MB)

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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 #615 of the NLSC Podcast!

On a recent episode of the No Fouls Given Podcast, Paul Pierce and Danny Green opined that Michael Jordan had a “limited bag”; a notion that The Truth’s former teammate Kevin Garnett vehemently disagreed with! We’re with KG when it comes to one of the most commonly used buzzwords in basketball discourse these days, and to that end, this week we join the community in discussing what we think having a bag means and looks like. Is it just dribbling moves and ballhandling flair, or does it comprise a player’s entire offensive arsenal? We also provide examples of the players past and present that we believe boast some of the deepest bags in basketball history.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 48:27 — 33.6MB)

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!

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #607 of the NLSC Podcast!

If you wanted to introduce someone to basketball, which players do you think stand the best chance of making them fall in love with the sport? This week, we’re joining the community in naming our picks for both past and present players that we believe would get a new fan completely hooked on hoops. Some of the choices probably won’t be a huge shock, but there are some interesting and unexpected ones as well! We also reflect on how the players of yesteryear solidified our love of basketball and the NBA as young fans, and the importance of appreciating all of the stars of the sport, whether it’s the all-time legends of the game or the top players in the league today.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 44:52 — 31.2MB)

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!

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #581 of the NLSC Podcast!

What are some of the most memorable plays that we’ve seen in all of our years watching basketball? This week, we join the community in reminiscing about a few of our all-time favourite highlights. Considering our favourite teams, players, and eras to watch, some of our choices might just surprise you! Of course, a couple of others certainly won’t be particularly shocking. We also discuss which game should be featured in the next NLSC Tournament that will be played over Parsec, hopefully in the near future. The community also has some suggestions in that regard, and suffice it to say, there are some very popular picks when it comes to sim and arcade titles alike.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 46:15 — 32.1MB)

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 #571 of the NLSC Podcast!

What are some of the biggest What Ifs in the history of the NBA? This week, we join the community in reflecting on what might have been, from the tragedy of Len Bias to the various injuries, trades, and Draft picks that shaped the fortunes of teams and players alike. This includes some of the NBA Finals matchups and results that could’ve come to pass if not for a couple of plays going another way, or indeed, a certain all-time great retiring in 1993! We also discuss a couple of other interesting notes about the 1986 Draft, and some of the international players who could’ve had a better run in the NBA if the opportunity was there for them when they were in their prime.

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!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 59:57 — 41.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #563 of the NLSC Podcast!

With rumours that both EA Sports and Visual Concepts are considering bringing back their respective college basketball video games, which series would we personally prefer to see return? Our answer may surprise you…or then again, perhaps not! We also join the community in naming the players from NBA history and today that we most wish we could play like. It’s probably not a huge spoiler to mention that among others, we wanna be like Mike! Finally, we wrap up with a recap of a fun co-op session of NBA Live 2004 in which we took on the Houston Rockets with the Phoenix Suns, and reflect on it being a transitional year for both of those teams, as well as the NBA Live series.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 56:17 — 39.0MB)

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 #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 #553 of the NLSC Podcast!

This week’s show is all about the past, present, and future…and some combinations thereof! First of all, we tip things off with a recap of a fun co-op session of NBA 2K13 PC, in which we used a 1996 roster to take on the Hawks with Shaq and Penny’s Magic. Needless to say, it not only reminded us of how well NBA 2K13 holds up, but just how special the 1996 season was. Next, we join the community in naming three all-time greats that we’d want to bring into today’s NBA, and why they’re our picks. Finally, we and the community choose from a list of hypothetical features that we’d like to see added in NBA 2K26.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 58:39 — 40.6MB)

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!

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #533 of the NLSC Podcast!

Which NBA players from past decades would be even better if they competed in today’s league, with all of the changes to the rules and the style of play? This week, we join the community in picking five players – be they superstars, fringe All-Stars and other very good players, solid role players, or even benchwarmers – that we believe would really thrive in the modern NBA. Speaking of players who would be fantastic in any era, we also pay tribute to the late, great Jerry West, the inspiration for the NBA logo and one of the most successful individuals the league has ever seen on the court, on the sidelines, and in the front office.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:30:37 — 62.6MB)

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!

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #513 of the NLSC Podcast!

If we could bring back just one Triple-A release as an alternative to the NBA 2K series, what type of game would we choose: NBA sim, NBA arcade, street, or college basketball? This week we join the community in answering what is a very tough question! We also recap a session revisiting ESPN NBA 2Night, which despite some interesting features and great presentation, was not one of Konami’s better hoops titles. On the bright side, we played with an interesting New York Knicks team that was definitely in a transitional era. In this week’s mailbag, we’re talking about the players that got us into basketball, and our historical favourites on the virtual hardwood.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:37:13 — 67.1MB)

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!

As we’ve been doing all year – and will continue to do in 2024! – Dee and I have recently uploaded highlight reels from various basketball games that we’ve been playing. The latest batch of highlights come courtesy of the classic teams in NCAA Basketball 09, Ultimate Team in NBA Live 18, all-time fantasy rosters in NBA 2K19, and a co-op session of NBA Live 10.

I’ve been casually working on a custom roster for NCAA Basketball 09, adding real names to all of the players on the classic teams. I’ve played a couple of games with that work-in-progress roster in the past week or so, beginning with a showdown between Shaquille O’Neal’s 1990 LSU Tigers and Larry Johnson’s 1991 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. I also re-played the 1979 National Championship game between Magic Johnson’s Michigan State Spartans and Larry Bird’s Indiana State Sycamores, which went live today in honour of Bird’s birthday. Happy Birthday Larry Legend!

I also dusted off NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team once again, in order to play with my 90s All-Stars squad. This resulted in a very fun game against the Brooklyn Nets, packed with highlights that I just had to share. Meanwhile, Dee always brings a plethora of spectacular moments with his highlight reels, as you can see in the NBA 2K19 video in which he and his brother are using a squad of 2000s Legends against a Los Angeles Clippers team built using an all-time fantasy draft. In their hands, the new stars of a new millennium really put on a show!

Finally, Dee also connected with NBA Live Dude to play a co-op game of NBA Live 10 over Parsec. As you may know, Dee has been instrumental in getting the community into Parsec, and he and I often use it to connect for co-op action on the virtual hardwood. He and NBA Live Dude showcased why NBA Live 10 is still worth playing in 2023 and beyond, and why it will continue to be in our rotations as well. Don’t forget to check out his guide on how to set up Parsec, and be sure to join us in the NLSC Discord! As always, feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play, and be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content.

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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 reminiscing about re-playing the 1995 season in NBA Live 95 PC, a few years after it had concluded.

As I’ve said, I was born to be a retro gamer. My introduction to gaming was through a console that was already outdated, and even in the late 90s I was sticking with and going back to old favourites. The family’s aging 486 PC and the Nintendo 64 being the console I owned were also factors, especially when it came to basketball gaming. I didn’t have much choice without the hardware to play the newest NBA Live, nor could I convince my folks that I needed yet another basketball video game (“you’ve already got plenty!”). Nevertheless, my collection began when I was a teenager.

One of the most exciting pickups was NBA Live 95 PC. The Super Nintendo version of NBA Live 95 had been my introduction to 5v5 sim basketball games, but it was a frequent video store rental. NBA Live 96 was the first game I owned on PC, and also one of the first basketball video games that I actually owned, period. It was by chance that I happened across a copy of NBA Live 95 PC one school holidays, and as soon as I had it, it entered the rotation of games that my cousin Clinton and I played as often as we could. We eventually decided to re-play the 1995 season, and it became one of my all-time favourite hoops gaming experiences. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Last time in the NBA 2K14 Retro Series, I played a matchup between the ’93 Bulls and ’93 Hornets. I’m sticking with my favourite team and player for this latest instalment, this time flashing back to 1986 with a showdown between a young Michael Jordan and Larry Bird’s Celtics.

This matchup is of course the one that produced MJ’s 63-point game in the first round of the 1986 Playoffs, a record that still stands today. The Bulls were nevertheless outmatched by the eventual champions, being swept in the series. Even though the aim of the NBA 2K14 Retro Series is to portray actual historical matchups, I will take liberties here and there, especially as I’m always aiming to win the games. Something that is definitely true to life here is MJ racking up buckets with an array of aerial moves and midrange jumpers, and you’ll certainly see that in this highlight reel. The game came down to the wire, much as his 63-point game did. Will history be re-written here? Watch to find out!

As always, a reminder that Dee and I are regularly uploading highlight reels and other video features to the NLSC’s YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe for more basketball gaming content!

Although I’ve chiefly kept NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4 in my gaming rotation because I’m enjoying an ongoing MyCAREER, it’s not the only thing I’m doing with the game. If you’re subscribed to our YouTube channel or follow us on social media, you may be aware of my NBA 2K14 Retro Series.

In short, the NBA 2K14 Retro Series is a journey through NBA history, using NBA 2K14 PS4. On top of playing various matchups with the game’s selection of classic teams, I’m adding effects in post-production to capture the aesthetic of their respective eras.

First up, there’s a showdown between two bitter rivals, the ’89 Bulls and ’89 Pistons. In addition to the filter, you’ll also see some VHS tracking, as you might if you were re-watching the game on an often-played and well-worn tape. Next, there’s the ’65 Lakers and ’65 Celtics squaring off, in glorious black and white with some era-appropriate audio and visual effects!

After that, I got a little creative and used the ’95 Magic and ’94 Rockets to play a November 1994 matchup between the two future 1995 NBA Finalists. My most recent entry in the series is a matchup between the ’86 Hawks and ’86 Celtics, as Dominique Wilkins duels Larry Bird in the old Boston Garden. Along the way, you’ll notice a few other touches to take you back to the year in question.

Check out the first four games in the NBA 2K14 Retro Series below! Stay tuned for more classic matchups using NBA 2K14 PS4, and feel free to throw out some suggestions for other historical showdowns you’d like to see. Be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content.

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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 some NBA memories through eleven historical screenshots in NBA 2K14.

When I was capturing screenshots for the feature re-creating NBA Finals matchups with the classic teams in NBA 2K14, I ended up replicating some other scenarios as well. As I said in last week’s feature, for me a big part of being on a retro basketball gaming kick is to get as much as I can out of the game, including messing around with rosters, classics teams, and whatnot. Once again, even though there are problems with the accuracy of the retro squads, I still enjoy putting them out there on the virtual hardwood, and playing out some historical matchups.

Originally, these were going to be bonus screenshots in last week’s feature. With twenty-nine NBA Finals series being represented however, including these screens as well would’ve made it an even longer article. To that point, I’m spinning them off into their own feature, as I had a blast getting these historical screenshots in NBA 2K14, and want to share them with everyone as I reminisce about league history. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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