Tag Archives: Rosters

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 by talking about how I enjoy tinkering with rosters.

I know I’ve said it many times before, but it’s been an absolute joy to change up my basketball gaming habits in recent years. Because I’m no longer forcing myself to play the newest game even if I don’t enjoy it, I’ve also broken the habit of grinding away in MyCAREER year after year. I’m also not beholden to any MyTEAM Agendas, and I’m avoiding the online scene. Stepping away from those modes and leaning towards retro gaming has created time for other activities on the virtual hardwood, and that’s made basketball gaming as fun as it’s ever been for me.

Obviously, this includes playing into my seventh year of an NBA 2K14 MyCAREER, and at long last returning to franchise gaming; solo in NBA Live 16, and co-op with Dee in NBA 2K9. I’ve also played through 24/7 mode in NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7, and hit The Streets in NBA Live 18 and NBA Live 19. Something that I’ve really had fun with however is just playing an assortment of exhibition games in titles that I’ve been drawn to. That in turn has led to me tinkering with the rosters of various games. Although that can lead to more in-depth projects that I’ll release publicly – such as my minimalist 2005 roster for NBA 2K6 – I’ve had a blast just casually editing rosters.

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Much as PatTheHead has been doing for NBA 2K13, Thunder Shaq has been keeping NBA 2K20 up to date while also celebrating NBA history. To that end, the latest version of his Ultimate Retro Roster for NBA 2K20 features 2026 season rosters, and other enhancements throughout the retro season mods.

The 2026 rosters are accurate as of October 31st 2025. Class of 2025 rookies are included with core players all having faces, and the branding for the Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz has been updated. At this time, many of the two-way players aren’t included unless they were already in the roster, and contracts are not accurate. To that end, Thunder Shaq has advised that the roster in its current state is mostly intended for Play Now and Season mode.

In addition to bringing 2026 season rosters to NBA 2K26, the latest update to the Ultimate Retro Roster includes an enhanced version of the 2025 season mod, several updates to the 2019 roster, and new faces, jerseys, and courts. The full release notes can be found here.

You can find all of the download links for the Ultimate Retro Roster here in the Forum! If you’ve already downloaded the previous release and just need the current season rosters, just download Update Pack 3 here. Shout out to Thunder Shaq and all of the other contributors to the Ultimate Retro Roster for bringing 2026 season rosters to NBA 2K20, along with a host of retro season mods!

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 Michael Jordan in NBA Live 2004.

These days, we think of Visual Concepts as the company to bring Michael Jordan to the virtual hardwood. After all, he’s been available as a Legend since NBA 2K11, we’ve had two iterations of the Jordan Challenge, and he’s graced the cover of four editions of the game. However, long before NBA 2K was celebrating His Airness, he was closely associated with EA Sports. From licensing him for the NBA Playoffs series as he disappeared from other early 90s titles, to games such as Jordan vs. Bird, Michael Jordan in Flight and Chaos in the Windy City, it was EA who brought us MJ.

Of course, the last time that Michael Jordan made an official appearance in an EA Sports game was in NBA Live 2004. Indeed, until NBA 2K11, it marked the last time that he was officially featured in any video games. Needless to say, adding him to the Legends Pool and 90s All-Stars was an annual task for our modding community from NBA Live 2005 through NBA Live 08, so we were still able to play with him on PC. There was something special about official appearances though, especially given MJ’s absence from the virtual hardwood in the late 90s. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 thoughts on how there’s now a ticking clock on support for NBA Live 19, and what it means for the future of the series.

When the NBA Live 18 servers were shut down last year, I speculated that it may not be too long before online support for NBA Live 19 ends as well. Although support won’t end in 2025 as I guessed that it might, it’s been confirmed that NBA Live 19’s servers will be shut down on January 30th, 2026. The game has already been removed from digital stores, but physical copies do exist if you want to get your hands on it. Obviously, the offline modes will still be available when online support ends, so as long as you own the game, it will be playable.

Of course, the end of online support is bad news for Ultimate Team; a mode that I’ve been enjoying as of late. Much like my NBA Live 18 kick last year, I’ve unfortunately allowed myself to get hooked on an experience that will soon be unavailable! I’d liken it to getting into a great television show after it’s already a few seasons in, but on the brink of cancellation or otherwise getting ready to wrap up. I’m enjoying myself and I’m grateful that I gave it a proper chance, but I’m also getting on the ride late, so the impending end of the journey feels unfairly abrupt. Beyond that, the ticking clock on NBA Live 19 underscores the current state of the series, as well as its bleak future.

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EA has advised that the NBA Live 19 servers will be shutting down on January 30th, 2026. The game was de-listed from digital storefronts in late October, basically telegraphing that the end of online support was rapidly approaching.

In recent months, gamers have reported problems when trying to play LIVE Events in The One, suggesting that online support has been in the process of wrapping up for a while now. However, Ultimate Team has remained online and fully functional to this day, and I can confirm that a handful of people are still active in the Community Market on PlayStation 4. With that being said, Ultimate Team will definitely be inaccessible once the NBA Live 19 servers are shut down early next year, along with all other online modes. The final roster update will also be unavailable at that time.

With the shutdown of the NBA Live 18 servers last year, it’s no surprise that NBA Live 19 will soon follow suit. EA has been unusually generous in maintaining online support for the eighth gen NBA Live releases, especially compared to the 27 months that Take-Two guarantees for NBA 2K titles. Obviously NBA 2K has been markedly more successful with a majority of gamers moving on every year, but to that end, it’s quite surprising that the less popular NBA Live releases have retained online support for so long. Prior to support ending for NBA Live 18 last year, NBA Live 14 and NBA Live 15 were still online as of 2019, while NBA Live 16’s servers were finally shut down in 2020. As such, the eighth gen NBA Lives have ended up receiving between five and seven years of online support.

However, the time has obviously come for NBA Live 19 to be sunset. For anyone still playing the game – which includes me, thanks to a recent kick – we’ll still have three months to finish up any business with modes featuring online content. The offline modes will naturally still be available, though speaking for myself, it’ll be a shame to lose Ultimate Team. Additionally, if you don’t own the game and want to add it to your collection, at this point you’ll need to track down a physical copy. In any case, if NBA Live 19 is still in your rotation or you’d like to give it another look while it’s still relatively intact, make sure you’re ready to be done with it by January 30th next year!

PatTheHead’s roster pack for NBA 2K13 is constantly being updated, but he recently put out a major release with V6.0 of the project. The new version includes 2026 season rosters, which is excellent news with the season now underway.

The pack’s retro season mods have also been receiving plenty of attention. Over a hundred new player faces have been added, along with further team art updates. ukwe has been contributing end-of-season versions of several of the retro season mods, for those who’d prefer to play with all of the trades and signings that occurred throughout the year. New jerseys by Pep have also been added to the 2025 FIBA Eurobasket 2025 rosters.

For those who are unaware, PatTheHead’s NBA 2K13 roster pack not only features current and retro NBA season rosters, but also mods for the Olympics and other historical leagues including the ABA, ABL, NBL, and BAA. It’s an interactive love letter to basketball history, created for a game that still holds up superbly.

Download the roster pack here, and check out the release topic here in the Forum for more information, previews, and continuous updates! A huge thanks to PatTheHead and all of the talented contributors for keeping this outstanding project going, and making it available to the community free of charge. We admire and appreciate the passion and effort that goes into keeping an old favourite alive with new content.

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 mods that I’ve wanted to make for NBA Live 96 PC over the years.

As I’ve said before, NBA Live 96 PC is one of my all-time favourite basketball video games. Indeed, it’s one of the very first basketball video games that I owned, and the title that led me to discover the NLSC and modding way back in 1997. As such, even though other titles have surpassed NBA Live 96 in my personal rankings, I have great affection and nostalgia for it. Those fond memories come rushing back whenever I fire it up for a retro gaming session, or pick up the tools to tinker with it once again. In short, it’s brought me a great deal of joy over the years, and continues to do so.

Of course, when it comes to making NBA Live 96 mods, I do have a few regrets. That includes criticism of my efforts to update the game for the 1998 season all those years ago, but some of my biggest regrets with NBA Live 96 are the mods that I didn’t get to make. In some cases I made some preliminary preparations for a project, or even managed some early progress on a mod, only for it to fall through. Obviously, I could still probably attempt some of these projects as I’m all for creating fun mods for my own sessions with NBA Live 96, but it’s hard to justify that much work for such an old game. Nevertheless, here are five NBA Live 96 mods I’ve always wanted to make.

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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 combining past and present by creating some 2026 rosters in NBA Live 19.

Much as I was getting back into NBA Live 18 prior to its server shutdown last year, I’ve been on a bit of an NBA Live 19 kick this year. To that end, you can expect to see it covered in future Wayback Wednesday features, including a new retrospective that reflects my current opinion of the game. It probably isn’t a huge spoiler to reveal that I’m enjoying it far more than I have previously! Indeed, my enjoyment has led to a playthrough of The Streets World Tour, completing a Legends Fantasy Challenge in Ultimate Team, and even customising the game’s rosters.

That brings us to the topic at hand: 2026 rosters, as represented by NBA Live 19! Portraying the present with a game from the past has become an enjoyable staple of my retro basketball gaming. Previously, I revisited NBA Live 10 to see how many players were still active in 2021 and 2024. Creating 2024 lineups in NBA 2K14 led to a couple of games using those makeshift rosters. Earlier this year, I played NBA Live 18 using a minimalist 2025 roster update. And now, with the 2026 season underway, I’m demonstrating how it looks in NBA Live 19! Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 thoughts on the importance of playing with your own roster mods.

There have definitely been people over the years who are more interested in creating mods for basketball video games than hitting the virtual hardwood. Far be it from me to tell anyone else how to enjoy their leisure time, but that has always struck me as a little odd. Obviously there’s tremendous creative satisfaction in modding, but to me, mods are meant to enhance the gameplay experience. There are limitations to what we can achieve through modding of course, which is why I’d ultimately prefer a fun game that we can’t really mod to one that’s modder-friendly, but a poor on-court experience.

With that being said, the best and most popular games in our community throughout the years are the ones that were highly moddable, while also being great out of the box. As such, current roster updates, retro roster mods, and total conversions have all made some fantastic games even better. Because they take time to make however, if you’re creating one of those big projects, you may not always get to enjoy the fruits of your labour. I can certainly attest to this! It is important that we spend some time playing with our own roster mods, though. After all, not only should we be able to have fun with what we created, but it’s essential to becoming a better roster maker.

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Paxson-for-3 has been doing some outstanding work with retro mods for NBA 2K11 this year. To that end, he’s recently released his latest retro season roster for NBA 2K11 PC, this time taking the game back to the 1992 season. The mod is based on the 1992 roster that was originally released way back in 2011, and contains various fixes and enhancements.

More specifically, the lineups in Paxson-for-3’s mod are accurate as of the season’s opening night, November 1st 1991. All teams are wearing their appropriate 1992 season jerseys, while individual players all have accurate jersey numbers along with the rest of their bio data. The Free Agents pool has also been updated with players who were unsigned at the time, providing opportunities to make some fictional moves in an Association game if you wish.

You can pick up the 1992 season roster for NBA 2K11 here in the Forum! You’ll also find some previews of the project, and it’s the best place to get in touch with Paxson-for-3 if you have any feedback. Shout out once again to Paxson-for-3 and everyone else who continues to release these awesome mods for old favourites! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out his 1997, 1998, and 2000 season rosters for NBA 2K11 as well.

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #600 of the NLSC Podcast!

It’s the 600th Episode of the NLSC Podcast! A huge shout out to all of our listeners and the NLSC community at large for continuing to support all of our content throughout the years! To mark the milestone, this week we’re simply getting on the mics to chat about basketball gaming. We share our latest thoughts on NBA 2K26, and reflect on some of the other games that we’re currently playing, including our NBA 2K9 Association. We also once again touch on the joy of Virtual Hardwood Legends, discuss how realism can sometimes feel unrealistic in basketball video games, and share some interesting roster trivia about real players and their virtual counterparts alike.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 49:32 — 113.7MB)

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!

Unsurprisingly, we don’t see too many mod releases for NBA Live 2001 these days, but Murat recently tracked down Kq’s old 2002 EuroLeague mod and re-uploaded it to our database for safekeekping. Retro PC basketball gamers can give it a look at the link below! Also, shout out to Kq, one of the pioneering modders in our community.

Santiago Roza (Kq) et al
Euroleague 2001-2002 Patch

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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 thoughts on fictional players in sim basketball games.

By definition, sim basketball games are anchored in reality. Unlike arcade games, we don’t expect or desire to see mascots and other secret characters being playable on team rosters. However, we are invited to create fictional scenarios through fantasy drafts and the trades and signings of our choice in franchise play, as well as the card collecting and old school custom teams modes. We can also inject NBA Legends and classic teams into the current NBA, play inter-era exhibitions, and mod in fictional characters. The All-Time Teams in NBA 2K are ready-made fantasy scenarios, too.

In other words, sim games aren’t always serious business, or about playing with real rosters, be they contemporary or historical. That is still the default starting point, of course. Any breaks from reality that we see are either at our discretion, or intrinsic to the concept of a specific mode. Furthermore, these fictional scenarios still involve real players. We’re generally not clamouring to see completely fictional characters inserted into modes where rosters are expected to reflect reality; at least to begin with. With that being said, we have seen fictional players who aren’t placeholders take part in modes based around the real NBA. I certainly have mixed feelings about that idea.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #598 of the NLSC Podcast!

Why do we still play basketball video games after all these years? This week, we discuss the factors that keep us hooked on the virtual hardwood, from a love of competition and shared experiences with friends and family to the way that it allows us to feel connected to and indeed more informed about our favourite sport. In fact, through a combination of modding, new releases, and a library of old favourites to revisit, we’re arguably enjoying basketball gaming as much as ever with the options that we have at our disposal nowadays! We also reflect on the lingering stigma surrounding gaming as an adult, and push back on the notion that it’s a childish hobby that needs to be left behind.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 51:34 — 35.8MB)

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!

Earlier this month, agent_michael_scarn released V4.2 of the Current & Legendary Edition Mod for the GameCube version of NBA Street Vol. 2. Over the weekend, he released V4.3 of the project, which is now available to download.

The latest version is basically a minor bug fix, as it corrects Trae Young’s jersey number. However, for those who missed the previous release, V4.2 was a more substantial update that added top pick Cooper Flagg to the Dallas Mavericks, while moving Bradley Beal to the Los Angeles Clippers, Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets, and Damian Lillard back to the Portland Trail Blazers. It also featured an update for Dennis Rodman’s hair.

You can pick up NBA Street Vol. 2 Current & Legendary Edition here in our Downloads database! Also be sure to check out the release topic in the Forum for more information on how to install the mod on the emulator, as well as previews and details on future releases. Shout out to agent_michael_scarn for keeping the project alive for over five years now, and also for making it readily available to everyone free to charge! We really appreciate all of the efforts that are being made to breathe new life into some classic basketball games with outstanding mods.