Tag Archives: Practice

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 courts used in Street mode and 24/7: Road to the EBC in NBA 2K6 for Xbox 360.

Revisiting NBA 2K6 for Xbox 360 on a whim has retroactively made it one of my favourite basketball video games. Way back in 2006, I’d been unimpressed by the PlayStation 2 version, but since coming to enjoy the Xbox 360 release, I’ve greatly warmed up to its sixth generation counterpart as well. Fittingly for a game that I overlooked for so many years, NBA 2K6 has also allowed me to develop more of an affinity for a mode I seldom bothered to play, namely Street. Yes, after all these years, JaoSming’s love of Blacktop and its predecessor mode finally rubbed off on me!

It undoubtedly helps that Street mode in NBA 2K6 boasted some fantastic locations to hoop in. They were also a part of 24/7: Road to the EBC, providing great backdrops to a fun and challenging barnstorming mode. Of course, it’s just as fun to assemble a couple of squads and hit the virtual blacktop (and in some cases, hardwood) for once-off showdowns. And so, just as I once took a look back at the memorable one-on-one courts in NBA Live 2003, today I’m giving the same treatment to the Street courts in NBA 2K6 for Xbox 360. 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 features that we’ve lost, yet for some reason don’t talk about enough.

One of the unfortunate realities of long-running annual sports video games is that over the years, features will be lost. Contrary to popular belief, the code is re-written every year, as it’s necessary to accommodate new features and mechanics. As such, anything that is incompatible or otherwise causes issues with the new code is at risk of ending up on the cutting room floor, particularly if the telemetry data indicates that it isn’t a very popular feature. With that being said, some features are dropped because they’re no longer useful or relevant, or indeed, stand in the way of recurrent revenue.

I’m sure that we can all cite plenty of examples of lost features that we’ve fervently wished were still in NBA 2K, NBA Live, and other games. Indeed, I’ve mentioned some of my own picks in previous articles and on our podcast! However, there are lost features that really should receive more attention than they do, yet people seldom bring them up. To that end, I’m as guilty as anyone else of glossing over some of these lost features that were once staples of basketball video games, so I figured it’s about time that I spotlight a few of them. While some of them may not seem like a big deal, they’re still basic functionality that’s bewilderingly absent in otherwise deep games.

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March Modness 2025 tipped off yesterday, and as I promised, I’m getting into the spirit myself! NBA Live 06 is an old favourite that I’m looking to bring back into my rotation, which also means that I’m considering ways to spruce it up with mods. To that end, I’ve put together some new practice courts for NBA Live 06, which include re-makes of The Hangar and the NBA Elite 11 practice court; two mods that I originally created for NBA Live 08.

On top of that, I’ve whipped up a few quick mods using files that originally came with NBA Live 06. I’ve restored the original practice gym that erroneously features a banner for NCAA March Madness 06, a fixed version of that gym that replaces the banner with an NBA Live 06 logo, and a mod that swaps in the urban court from 1-on-1 mode as the practice court. Download them all at the links below!

• The Hangar Practice Court
• NBA Elite 11 Practice Court
• Original Gym Practice Court
• Fixed Original Gym Practice Court
• Urban Practice Court

I’ll definitely be exploring other modding ideas for NBA Live 06 beyond these practice courts, including some roster projects (most likely not a 2025 season update, however). I’ll also be tinkering with some other games, including finishing up some minimalist retro rosters the Xbox 360 version of NBA 2K6. Stay tuned for more releases, and modders, remember to get involved with March Modness for a chance to win a copy of NBA 2K26 PC later this year!

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 times that we were able to alter the frontend in basketball video games without modding them.

You know, sometimes we focus so much on searching for the video game secrets that we wish were real, that we forget to enjoy the fun things we can actually do. Take Super Mario 64, for example. So many people have painstakingly collected every coin in every level, and done everything else they can to unlock Luigi; an endeavour that’s doomed to fail, because it’s been proven that he’s not in the game. Something that is in the game however is the ability to stretch Mario’s face on the title screen into goofy poses and expressions. Silly as it may be, I’ve laughed uproariously while doing that!

After all, there’s something satisfying about being able to mess around with a game’s presentation or frontend, without actually having to externally mod any files. It may not have a practical use, but it doesn’t need one. It’s still a novelty, something fun to do as you’re preparing to jump into gameplay, or you’ve just finished up a session. I realise that doesn’t gel with the idea of competitive play, grinding for rewards, and taking video games super seriously, but that’s not all that gaming is about. Whether it’s a prominent option that you can select, or a minor detail that you can manipulate, there’s joy in having the ability to alter the frontend in various basketball video games.

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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 things that should never cost VC to equip or use.

When we talk about what basketball video games should and shouldn’t do, it does pay to think about the business side of things. Granted, that shouldn’t be our concern as consumers, but as far as feasibility or the likelihood of certain ideas, it’s something we have to keep in mind. After all, “get rid of all microtransactions” would be a fantastic suggestion in my book, but it’s just not going to happen! Sadly, including freemium mechanics in Triple-A games has proven to be too profitable for companies to not do so if they can get away with it, so it’s not a realistic request or expectation.

With that being said, I’m ultimately always going to advocate for value for money, fairness to consumers, and a quality experience when it comes to basketball video games. Again, I’m going to tailor any suggestions based on what we know is highly unlikely or unrealistic, but I’m on the side of gamers, not the suits and billion dollar corporations. Unfortunately, there are too many people who excuse or even outright shill for recurrent revenue mechanics, which has emboldened NBA 2K to place more and more content behind VC paywalls. It’s done nothing to enhance the experience for us, so to that end, here are five things that we should never have to spend VC on.

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Even more good news for retro basketball gamers, as we’ve got some new fixes for NBA Live 2005, 06, 07, and 08 PC, courtesy of Murat and iceman! Murat has uploaded a mod that allows the Press Box camera to be used in Practice and One-on-One modes in NBA Live 06, while iceman has corrected the resolution of the intro videos when using Murat’s Widescreen Fix for NBA Live 2005-08. Download them at the links below!

You can download Murat’s Camera Enabler for NBA Live 06 here. Pick up iceman’s Widescreen Intro fix here. If you need the latest version of the Widescreen fix, you can find that here, along with the Windowed Mode fix here.

A big thanks once again to Murat and iceman for contributing these fixes for the last four NBA Live games on PC! We’re certainly advocates of retro basketball gaming around these parts, so mods for old favourites and enhancements to get them working better than ever on modern systems are most welcome. If you have the knowledge and enthusiasm to contribute to retro basketball gaming and modding in any way, please feel free to share your work with our community! The upload facilities  in our Downloads database are free for all to use, and only require an NLSC Forum account (which again, is 100% free). For more information on using our upload facilities, please see this video tutorial.

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 fun it can be just messing around with basketball video games.

I don’t want to harp on the horrors of grinding in basketball gaming nowadays. It’s a well-known issue, and it would be rather ironic and hypocritical of me to repeatedly grumble about something being repetitive! However, it is worth noting that one of the biggest problems in modern basketball games is the focus on the grind, whether it’s levelling up a MyPLAYER or building a MyTEAM squad. We’ve gone from a fun journey that keeps us hooked for hours on end, to needing to put in hours of work just to have fun. I’m grateful to have changed my habits in that regard!

However, while it’s been refreshing to return to NBA 2K14 PS4 for five full seasons and counting in MyCAREER, and also free up time for a potential return to franchise play, frankly I’m enjoying having less structure to my basketball gaming. Don’t get me wrong; I love the depth that keeps us hooked on franchise and career modes, with the tangible goals of playing through seasons and winning championships. At the same time, when you’re not dedicating yourself to grinding or you feel like a break from a more structured mode, simply messing around in a game can be just as engaging. It’s actually one of the things that I enjoyed the most about my basketball gaming in 2023.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a list of five strange glitches in various basketball video games, which you may not be aware of.

As is the case with other genres, some glitches in basketball video games are well-known. In fact, some of them achieve infamy, such as the “Jesus Bynum” glitch in the NBA Elite 11 demo. Some glitches are helpful, and so we seek them out to gain additional XP or in-game currency. Other glitches are game-breaking; we hope we’ll never encounter those and are furious when we do, especially if we end up losing our save files with hours of progress (paid and No Money Spent). And of course, there are the harmless and amusing glitches that are just entertaining when they happen.

Not every glitch becomes common knowledge, of course. If you never experience something for yourself and you’re not particularly involved in online discourse, you may not know about a prominent bug in a popular title. Even when it comes to the most infamous glitches such as the aforementioned Bynum bug, not everyone who has seen them in action has experienced them in their own game. Sometimes it’s a rare and specific set of circumstances that causes the issue, which is why it’s so difficult for developers to fix them in patches. To that end, here are five strange glitches that I’ve encountered that might’ve flown under your radar, or you may have forgotten.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five looks at five traditions that you may have noticed in basketball video games.

Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings, basketball gamers! I’m sure that most folks around these parts are spending time with loved ones, as am I (I scheduled this a day in advance, so presumably that’s what I’m doing!). If you’ve decided to check in and read this week’s Friday Five, I definitely appreciate it! It’s always my intention to bring you features that entertain, spotlight, and advocate, and hopefully I’ve been able to achieve that goal throughout the year. Since it’s both Christmas Day and the last Five of the year, however, I’m opting for a lighter topic this week.

Given that it’s Christmas time, my thoughts have turned to traditions. Apart from spending time and eating Christmas lunch with my folks, one of the traditions that I’ve adopted for the holidays is pulling out old favourites for some retro gaming. Some of that is in aid of content for the NLSC, but I like to break out classics across a variety of genres: Donkey Kong Country, Sid Meier’s Pirates, Jazz Jackrabbit, Epic Pinball, and even a more recent favourite like Fallout 3, just to name a few. Basketball video games themselves have a few traditions, so in the spirit of familiar things that bring us warmth and joy – not just at Christmas, but all year round – here are five examples.

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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 practice arena in NBA Live 08.

For artists working on sim basketball games, there isn’t always a lot of room for creativity. Since the aim of the genre is to depict the NBA, its teams, and its players as realistically as possible, there aren’t as many opportunities to take liberties and utilise creative license. However, there are a few areas of the game that invite an artistic flourish, including settings such as The Neighborhood and The City, special effects in MyTEAM, fictional street courts, certain clothing items, and the frontend in general. Oh, and the practice arena.

Over the years, a lot of creativity has gone into creating an appealing practice arena for us to shoot around in, particularly in NBA Live. We’ve had The Temple in NBA Live 06 and 07, The Hangar in NBA Live 10, and the adidas-branded gym in NBA Live 15. NBA Live 09 introduced us to the NBA Live Academy. In NBA Live 19, we were even invited to design our own court where we could shoot around. A setting that is often overlooked, however, is the humble practice arena in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 08. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a list of five times that last gen games surprised us with an unexpected feature.

With the PlayStation 5 reveal event bringing us the official announcement of, and first look at NBA 2K21, we’re heading full steam ahead into the next generation. There are obviously plenty of questions yet to be answered, and more than a couple of concerns to be allayed. While NBA 2K14 wowed us pre-launch with the OMG Trailer, many of us were disappointed by the absence of staple features such as full roster editing, the traditional franchise mode, a standalone Playoffs mode, and other aspects missing from the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version (until NBA 2K15 brought them back).

There’s also the question of whether the PC version of NBA 2K21 will be a port of the last gen or next gen release. Glancing back at what happened with NBA 2K14, we had to wait a year until the PC port caught up to the new generation. And of course, we have to wonder what will happen with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which will become last gen upon the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. It seems almost inevitable that they’ll become afterthoughts in terms of quality and content, but if we look back through the years, there are a few times that last gen games surprised us with new features and content. Here are five such examples!

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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a list of five types of mods that I find the most satisfying to make.

Although the NBA season is on hold and March Madness has been cancelled, March Modness is still underway! We’re celebrating modding throughout the month of March with new releases, a spotlight on modding, and of course a giveaway as a means of saying thank you to our modding community. There’s still time to enter that giveaway, so if you’re interested, be sure to check out this post for details. The prize is a copy of either this year’s NBA 2K or NBA Live, though from the looks of things, it’ll probably be a Steam key for NBA 2K21 for the winner!

Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate NBA Live modding, and release some new mods for old favourites. In fact, I’ve done just that, releasing fixed versions of my Hangar and NBA Elite 11 practice courts. There are a few other mods I’d like to finish and release this month, and I’m working towards getting that done. After all, modding can be a lot of fun, and it’s hard to resist the lure of the hobby. Most of us have a type of mod that we specialise in; updates that we find the most satisfying to make. I’ve been able to branch out with a few different types of mods over the years, and looking back, these five are the kind of updates I’ve found the most satisfaction in creating.

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As March Modness continues, I have another overdue update to share. Following on from my new version of The Hangar, I’ve updated my NBA Elite 11 Practice Court for NBA Live 08. Once again, I’ve corrected the apron colour to a shade of black, having erroneously opted for a shade of brown in the original release.

You can pick up the new version of the NBA Elite 11 practice court here in our Downloads section; please see below for a handful of previews. For more information, previews, and a catalogue of my previous mods, check out my release thread here in the Forum. As I said when I released the updated Hangar, I’d like to create proper conversions for NBA Live 2005-07, so stay tuned for that.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to release something new every day, but it’s my goal to be more active for this year’s March Modness. I’m aiming to finish up and release some big projects in celebration of the event, but I’ve got quite a few ideas for smaller mods as well, so be on the lookout for those. Don’t forget that modders can enter a draw to win a copy of NBA Live or NBA 2K by uploading their work to our Downloads section. Be sure to check out this bulletin for more details, and enjoy our celebrations of modding throughout March!

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Since March Modness is underway, I’d like to get the ball rolling with a long overdue update for one of my favourite mods that I’ve made. Back in 2011, I made a practice court for NBA Live 08 based on The Hangar in NBA Live 10. I felt it turned out quite well, especially the second version.

However, it wasn’t until I fired up NBA Live 10 on a newer TV that I realised I’d made an error with the apron colour. I’d made the apron brown, whereas it was a shade of black, slightly standing out from the black court lines. As such, I’ve gone back and updated The Hangar for NBA Live 08 to give it a black apron.

You can pick up the new version here in our Downloads database, and find my release thread here in the Forum. I’ve also captured some screenshots featuring NBA Live 10 cover player Dwight Howard, which you can check out below. I’ll also be making a similar update to my NBA Elite 11 practice court for NBA Live 08, so stay tuned for that. I’d also like to properly convert them for use with NBA Live 2005-07, so that’s something else to look out for.

I’m hoping to be far more active for this year’s March Modness. My aim is to release several smaller updates, as well as finally finish and release some big projects including 2020 season rosters for NBA 2K11, my Ultimate Jordan mod, and a couple of other ideas I’ve been tinkering with. In the meantime, enjoy V3 of The Hangar, and take a look back at the real thing in my Wayback Wednesday feature from 2017!

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To mark the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live, we’re taking a look back at every game in the series with retrospectives and other fun content! This also includes re-running some features from our 20th Anniversary celebrations, with a few revisions. Whether you’re a long-time basketball gamer who grew up with NBA Live and are keen on taking a trip down memory lane, or you’re new to the series and want to learn about its history, we hope that you enjoy celebrating the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live here at the NLSC! Today, it’s a retrospective of NBA Live 2002.

NBA Live 2002 is always an interesting game for me to revisit. I played the game a lot when it was new and did get genuine enjoyment out of it, but I also recall many frustrating moments as well. As such, whenever I fire it up, the good and the bad memories come rushing back the moment the intro starts playing. It’s a game that I’ve described myself as being oddly nostalgic for given my mixed feelings towards it, and indeed the time in my life when it came out. Within our community, it proved to be a very controversial release, and altered our perception of and attitude towards the NBA Live series as much as any other title. Let’s take a look back at this infamous game!

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