Tag Archives: NBA History

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #623 of the NLSC Podcast!

The Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo now owns the second-highest mark for scoring in a single NBA game with 83 points. It’s a performance that has certainly drawn mixed reactions from fans and pundits alike, with some people seeing it as great accomplishment while others are less impressed given the context of how it was achieved. This week, we join the community in giving our thoughts on Bam’s 83-point game, and discuss what we believe separates legitimate records and other statistical feats from manufactured accomplishments. To that end, we make some historical comparisons, and react to a few of the more passionate comments both praising and criticising Bam’s big night.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 57:20 — 39.7MB)

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 being hooked on history and nostalgia with my current basketball gaming habits.

Many years ago, we were discussing the most recent WWE video game in the Forum. Sauru – a long-time member who had a few years on most of us – was wistfully noting the lack of wrestlers from the Golden Age/Hulkamania Era. As somewhat of a lapsed pro wrestling fan, he was far more interested in playing with his nostalgic favourites than the contemporary wrestlers. I understood his disappointment and agreed that a larger selection of Legends would be great, but noted that a majority of the userbase were more interested in the current WWE; a point that Sauru did concede.

Of course, all these years later, I find myself relating to Sauru’s disinterest when it comes to basketball and basketball gaming. His stance isn’t just understandable, but now very relatable! Indeed, it’s one of those “It’ll happen to you!” moments that The Simpsons warned us young viewers about back in the 90s. As I’ve grown disillusioned with the modern NBA and the disrespect for the history of the league – to say nothing of my issues with recent NBA 2K games – I’ve doubled down on my nostalgia. And so, these days I find far more satisfaction in going back to older titles that still hold up, discovering new favourites, and playing with Legends and other nostalgic lineups.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #620 of the NLSC Podcast!

The NBA 2K series has been packed full of retro content for over a decade now, but despite some major additions throughout the years, the overall quality still leaves us wanting. After reflecting on the issue of quantity over quality and the general lack of care for classic teams and players, we join the community in discussing how we’d enhance the retro content in future NBA 2K games. From fixes and updates that are absolutely essential to some more ambitious ideas that would make the retro content even more fun to use, there’s plenty that can and should be done. We also touch on how this lack of attention to detail is also already affecting the new collegiate content that recently debuted in NBA 2K.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 52:48 — 36.6MB)

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 #618 of the NLSC Podcast!

Another NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and it’s inspired us to reflect on some of the most notable midseason swaps. To that end, this week we’re reacting to Complex’s list of the Top 20 trade deadline deals in league history. Needless to say, we don’t necessarily agree with all of their rankings, and we also have a rather significant correction to make to their list! We also join the community in recalling some of the most memorable deals that our favourite teams have made – as well as moves that we wish they could’ve pulled off – along with some of the franchise mode trades that we can’t believe we got the CPU to agree to. It would seem that a few of us have some familiar trade targets!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:10:01 — 48.4MB)

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 #611 of the NLSC Podcast!

What Ifs are always an intriguing topic in basketball discussions, especially when they involve comebacks that could’ve been, and comebacks that could potentially still occur. To that end, this week we’re reflecting on a handful of historical comeback rumours, as well as returns that were reportedly very close to happening. Either way, they’re What Ifs that we would’ve loved to have seen come to fruition! We also discuss whether there are any recently-retired players that could feasibly still have an impact if they were to make a return to the NBA today, and a novel comeback scenario involving a player who’s been out of the league for over a decade after retiring young.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 56:48 — 39.4MB)

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 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 #609 of the NLSC Podcast!

During a recent podcast appearance, former NBA coach turned analyst Stan Van Gundy made some eyebrow-raising claims: specifically, that Nikola Jokic is the GOAT, Luka Doncic is the best offensive player of all-time, and that the best 20 players in NBA history have all played within the last 20 years. This week, we join the community in responding to these hot takes, as well as speculate on the motivations behind making them. There’s actually an interesting parallel with the basketball gaming community here! We also discuss a few other popular but nevertheless erroneous historical narratives that are about to complicate the GOAT debate, once fans and talking heads alike notice the contradictions.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:00:39 — 42.0MB)

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!

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 the challenges we face while trying to capture historical screenshots.

Between the topics I cover in various articles and my retro gaming habits involving classic teams and matchups, I’m often capturing screenshots of historical scenarios. Needless to say, there are some challenges when it comes to trying to snap the ideal shot. Obviously, many of them apply to virtual hardwood photography in general. From technical limitations to the available content to difficulty in staging everything the way you see it in your mind, the final result may not be exactly what you want. Of course, other times the results can be extremely satisfying.

To that end, I really enjoy firing up a game, tinkering with the rosters as necessary, and finding ways to stage historical scenarios for some great screenshots! Indeed, on top of using historical screenshots to illustrate the facts and trivia that I’m writing about, the theme of a number of my features in recent years has basically revolved around virtual pictures speaking their proverbial thousand words. Not only has this allowed me to indulge my nostalgia and love of NBA history, but it’s been fun trying my hand at some more visually creative content. Once again though, these historical screenshots come with several challenges, though tackling them has been rewarding.

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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 some strange stints throughout NBA history, as portrayed by NBA 2K9.

Whenever I’m on a kick with an old basketball video game, I’ll end up messing around with the rosters. As you may have seen, I’m particularly fond of setting up historical scenarios. I’ll make do with throwback jerseys – as I did with NBA Live 10 during my extended kick with that game – but it’s even better when I have some Legends at my disposal. Since NBA 2K9 has both, I ended up snapping a bunch of screenshots of historical players in retro jerseys. It began with placing them in the uniforms that we picture them in the most, but I was soon re-creating some strange stints.

Obviously, I’ve discussed many examples of strange stints in my series of articles about familiar faces in strange places, specifically ones that were represented in the rosters of video games. To that end, I’ve chosen to spotlight the strange stints that weren’t reflected in a contemporary video game – with one exception – followed by a gallery of screenshots of all the examples that I was able to re-create in NBA 2K9. There’s no significance to that choice in game, except that it’s piggybacking on a recent retro gaming kick! With that being said, 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 how the NBA 2K12 intro makes me wistful nowadays.

To celebrate World Basketball Day – which has indeed been declared an official day of observance – I’ve taken to posting the intro from NBA 2K12 on the NLSC’s socials every December 21st. It tends to get some traction with shares, likes, and comments, because it’s one of the very best intros that we’ve seen in a basketball video game. Accompanied by Kurtis Blow’s iconic hit “Basketball” and re-creating some of the best moments in the history of the sport in a way that blends past and present, it truly is a love letter to hoops.

Thanks to the way that Facebook’s algorithms work, the post on our page is the one that achieved the furthest reach out of all our socials, and it’s still being watched and getting regular reactions as of writing. Many of the comments are praising it for being such an incredible intro to a basketball video game, and also calling NBA 2K12 the best game in the series. I’m more inclined to agree with the former sentiment rather than the latter, but nevertheless, I’m glad that I’m not alone in my enjoyment of the NBA 2K12 intro. At the same time, seeing those comments and watching the intro again has left me feeling wistful about changes in basketball and gaming since then.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #566 of the NLSC Podcast!

The basketball world was shocked by the announcement that the Dallas Mavericks had traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. Naturally, we have a few thoughts on the deal, and what it means for both teams moving forward! Criminally underrated players from yesteryear are also on our minds as of late, so this week, we join the community in naming some of the ballers who deserve to be talked about more often. Finally, we recap an excellent co-op session with the PC version of NBA Live 2005, in which we took on the Philadelphia 76ers with the Orlando Magic. We also compare it to NBA Live 06, and other games in the NBA Live series.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:44:52 — 72.4MB)

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 star players who played for both the Lakers and Celtics.

It is undoubtedly the most iconic rivalry in the history of the NBA. It even inspired the title of the very first game in the NBA Playoffs/NBA Live series! As of writing, the Lakers and the Celtics have combined for 35 of the 78 championships in league history, and have clashed in the Finals a record 12 times. The 2024 season saw the Celtics edge ahead of the Lakers with their 18th championship, and they also have a 9-3 edge in their twelve NBA Finals clashes. Boston also leads the all-time series, and is the only team with a lifetime winning record against LA.

Of course, despite the rivalry and all of the passionate responses it invites from Lakers and Celtics fans, the teams have often done deals. Furthermore, taking into account players that joined one or both teams via free agency, there’s a long list of players who have donned both Celtics green and Lakers purple and gold. That’s inevitable with the teams being around for decades, but it does get interesting when you look for stars and Hall of Famers who ended up playing for both of these storied franchises. To that end, there are five particularly noteworthy players that come to mind here. As we tip off a new season where all eyes are on both teams, let’s take a look at who they are!

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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 Herb Williams and his lengthy association with the New York Knicks.

When we think of players who are synonymous with the New York Knicks, I feel quite confident in saying that Herb Williams probably isn’t the first one that comes to mind for most people. NBA history buffs will likely recall Willis Reed, the Finals MVP on both of the Knicks’ championship teams in the 1970s, or his teammate Walt “Clyde” Frazier. Obviously, Patrick Ewing will be a popular choice, being an All-Star and the franchise’s all-time leader in twenty categories. Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire might be the first Knicks that younger fans think of.

If tasked to keep naming Knicks, then players like Charles Oakley, John Starks, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, Anthony Mason, Earl Monroe, Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell, Bernard King, Micheal Ray Richardson, and Dick Barnett will be on the list. Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, Charlie Ward, and even Phil Jackson will possibly get a mention. These days, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle will probably be brought up as notable New York Knicks long before Herb Williams is. This is understandable, yet at the same time, Williams can claim one of the longest tenures in the history of the team, which produced some interesting stories. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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