Tag Archives: Team USA Basketball

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 Bulls vs. Blazers and the NBA Playoffs.

As I’ve mentioned in previous Wayback Wednesday retrospectives and other articles, my introduction to basketball gaming was through NBA Jam Tournament Edition, NBA Live 95, and NBA Live 96. To that end, I don’t have the same nostalgia for the NBA Playoffs series – EA’s forerunner to NBA Live – as people who got into hoops and the virtual hardwood earlier than I did. The massive jump that took place with NBA Live 95 made it difficult to truly appreciate its predecessors at first, but as I’ve collected them and given them a proper chance, they’ve definitely grown on me.

I’ve jumped around a little as I’ve covered these classics for Wayback Wednesday. I tipped things off with the Olympic spinoff Team USA Basketball, went back to the beginning with Lakers vs. Celtics, and then most recently profiled NBA Showdown. Since chronological order is already out the window and a retrospective is overdue anyway, I figured I wouldn’t waste any more time getting to Bulls vs. Blazers! The final game to bear the “NBA Playoffs” branding may have been surpassed by its successors, but it’s still a classic release. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 paying tribute to the iconic T-Meter.

While a solid basketball video game may be able to get away with advanced controls that are complex and even contrived, the basics must be well-designed and easy to use. If shooting is clunky, or jumping on defense is useless, or trying to pass to a teammate standing next to you is somehow a chore, then the game is not mechanically sound! To that point, while free throws aren’t something that will (or at least, should) happen on every possession, they are a part of the sport as the result of infractions, and thus a basic skill that needs to be properly represented in video games.

Of course, just as certain titles have botched other fundamental aspects of basketball, developers have devised some bewilderingly terrible ways of shooting free throws on the virtual hardwood. All too often, they were needlessly complicating what should be a straightforward mechanic in the name of creativity, challenge, or trying to represent a shooting motion. What those games should’ve done – and indeed, some did – was to copy what EA Sports were doing with the T-Meter. Dated as it may seem, it remains one of my favourite mechanics for free throws. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 NBA Showdown, with a particular focus on the Super Nintendo version.

As someone whose basketball fandom was solidified in the mid 90s, my introduction to the virtual hardwood came slightly later than other hoops gamers my age. My first basketball video games were NBA Live 95 for Super Nintendo and the PC version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, with NBA Live 96 PC also being an early favourite. To that point, I didn’t grow up playing any games in the NBA Playoffs series; the forerunner to NBA Live. As such, while I’ve always respected their contributions to the genre, I don’t have the same nostalgia for them as I do the early NBA Live titles.

Indeed, I’ve found the NBA Playoffs games quite difficult to get into, as they lacked many of the innovations that began with NBA Live 95. They are intriguing of course, and as I’ve added some of them to my collection, it has been fun and illuminating to spend some more time with them. Although they have their quirks, I’ve come to better appreciate them, and it’s been fun noticing early versions of features that later became staples of NBA Live. NBA Showdown was the final release before the re-brand and revamp, and the Super Nintendo version has captured my interest lately. In a way, it bridged the NBA Playoffs and NBA Live series. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 examples of players debuting in video games long before tallying their first NBA minute.

Every offseason, there’s a new crop of players – both drafted and undrafted – that will make their debut in the real NBA and on the virtual hardwood alike. To that point of course, barring Summer League play, basically all NBA players will be debuting in games before the real NBA, and have done so as long as titles with updated rosters have been released before the season tips off. However, there are players whose real life debuts came well after their first appearance in a video game. For the purposes of this article, this is what I mean when I say “debuting in games before the NBA”.

This includes players that missed what should’ve been their rookie season, and future NBA players who made cameos through other means. These appearances can make it difficult to remember exactly when certain players debuted or were drafted, since we recall playing with them in video games much earlier. There are also fun examples of bonus content leading to pre-NBA cameos for players who would become noteworthy names, and in some cases, major stars. It’s a lengthy list, so settle in as we take a look back…way back…

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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 the Dream Team in NBA 2K17.

They’ve often been cited as the greatest basketball team ever assembled. They swept their way to the gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, famously winning by an average of 44 points per game while never calling timeout. Eleven of its players are enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame for their individual accomplishments, and the team itself was collectively inducted in 2009. Eight years later, the team would also be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. Simply put, the Dream Team was a squad for the ages.

As far as the virtual hardwood is concerned, the Dream Team has made a handful of official appearances in video games. They were the cover stars of EA Sports’ Team USA Basketball, and were included in NBA 2K13; appearances that I’ve previously covered here in Wayback Wednesday. The most recent game to officially feature the Dream Team was NBA 2K17, an appearance that stands out as somewhat different – and indeed slightly controversial – compared to previous releases. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

It’s always fun when a particular theme emerges in an instalment of the NLSC Top 10 Plays, and this week, it’s tip dunks! Putbacks can be rare and challenging to pull off on the virtual hardwood, but we have some people in the community that are adept at them, as you’ll see in the countdown. Of course, dunks are spectacular in general, so there’s the usual array of posters – preceded by great moves and defensive stops – and a slick play in NBA Live 19. Finally, six different games are featured this week, ranging from Team USA Basketball to NBA 2K23. Let’s get to the action!

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

I’m a little late in sharing this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays, as I was out of town and then travelling home. As such, there’s a chance that you’ve already seen the full countdown over on YouTube, or perhaps the equally excellent abridged version that Dee shares on Twitter. However, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s worth another watch, as eight different titles from Team USA Basketball to NBA 2K22 have provided the community with some more memorable virtual hardwood moments. We’re grateful that those moments have been shared with us, so once again, check out this week’s assortment of poster dunks, flashy passes, and clutch plays!

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #417 of the NLSC Podcast!

Our College Hoops 2K8 Tournament is set to tip off! Talking about college basketball games leads us to ponder whether EA Sports’ best move would be to revive their NCAA series before they attempt another comeback with NBA Live. We also reflect on the madness of collecting retro basketball games, the size of our respective collections, and the current prices in retro video game stores and on eBay alike. We’re also interested in spending more time with a cancelled Sega Genesis game starring Shaquille O’Neal that was leaked a few years back. This week’s mailbag topic is all about picking our All-Virtual Hardwood teams. We share our selections, along with the community’s picks.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:37:03 — 67.0MB)

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!

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 twenty NBA players that have made no official appearances in video games.

I have an ongoing series of Friday Five articles documenting players who appeared in more video games than real NBA contests. While a handful of those players did tally playing time in at least one NBA game while sometimes appearing in multiple titles, several of them only saw action on the virtual hardwood after being cut in real life while the game was still in production. This article is basically the opposite of that series, instead focusing on players that did make it to the NBA, but due to the timing of their stints, never made it into a video game’s official rosters.

I’d originally planned this as a counterpart series of Friday Five articles, but I’ve instead opted for a single article listing twenty noteworthy examples. To that point, I’ve tried to select players who had interesting stories, and/or multiple opportunities to make official appearances in video games. I’ve also focused on games from NBA Live 96 onwards, as those titles have included more comprehensive lineups thanks to inactive rosters and official updates. Official roster updates have also made this a far less likely phenomenon as the years have gone by. 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 lists five times that NBL players appeared in classic NBA video games.

After the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the original start of the season, the Australian NBL is tipping off its 2021 campaign today. I’ve always been more of an NBA fan, but I do have an affinity for my country’s league; even if my hometown has lost two teams since the league was founded here in 1979. In any event, it’s been great to see the NBL grow, and become a viable path to the NBA. Not only have more and more home-grown talents made it to the NBA, but American players are opting for the NBL over college. Examples include Terrance Ferguson, and more recently, LaMelo Ball.

The number of players who spent time in both leagues has resulted in several NBL alumni appearing in NBA video games. Luc Longley played two games for the Perth Wildcats in 1986 before he was drafted in 1991, and became the first Australian to play in the NBA. Journeyman point guard Doug Overton played a season for the Illawarra Hawks before beginning his NBA career with the Washington Bullets. You may be familiar with them thanks to their NBA careers and video game appearances, as well as more recent NBL alumni such as Joe Ingles and Torrey Craig. There are some older appearances you may not recall however, such as these five examples.

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Following on from the announcement of the 2017 Toronto Raptors and 2019 Golden State Warriors being added in NBA 2K21, the official NBA 2K Twitter has revealed that Team USA 2012 and 2016 will also be featured in this year’s game. Once again 2K shared a couple of teaser images, which you can check out below.

Notably, there’s no mention of the 1992 Dream Team, or any other US squad. The Dream Team was previously featured in NBA 2K13 and NBA 2K17 in its entirety, despite Charles Barkley usually declining to appear in video games owing to his stance on older players being inadequately compensated. It would appear that this time, 2K were unable to come to another once-off arrangement with Sir Charles.

With that being said, it remains to be seen if any other classic teams will be added, whether it’s more throwback NBA teams, Team USA squads, or indeed any other FIBA content, seeing as how the Australian Boomers were previously featured in NBA 2K17. If so, it seems that those reveals will make up the final trickle of information ahead of NBA 2K21 Current Gen’s release on September 4th.

Got any thoughts? Share them in the comments below, and join in the discussion here in the Forum!

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Episode #321 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Join Dee4Three and I as we talk about the importance of historical content, and a rumour that’s making the rounds. We also reimagine covers for classic games, and discuss the issue of starting over every year.

The Last Dance has inspired an increase in gamers playing with classic Bulls teams in NBA 2K20. This leads us to reflect on how important it is to have historical content in games, and how our gaming habits are affected by what’s going on in the world of basketball. We also touch on a rumour about NBA Live that’s making the rounds, mostly due to wishful thinking and a desire to have another viable sim game. In our main discussion this week, we go back and reimagine covers for games beginning with Lakers vs. Celtics, including hypothetical Legend Edition covers. We also talk about the pain of starting over every year in MyCAREER and MyTEAM, and the likelihood of seeing certain Legends in NBA 2K.

Tune in below!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 2:02:07 — 83.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Who would you choose if you had to reimagine covers for old games? Are you weary of the annual grind in modern titles? Sound off in the comments section below, or join in the discussion here in the Forum! Additionally, feel free to hit us up with any feedback on the episode, as well as suggestions for topics that you’d like to hear us discuss in future episodes. For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki.

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! First up, it’s a retrospective of NBA Live 95.

As I’ve mentioned on many occasions, NBA Live 95 is a title that’s often remembered fondly by long-time basketball gamers. Beyond its significance as the first game in the NBA Live series, it’s also generally considered to be a classic for the way it advanced the genre. Even after 25 years, it holds up remarkably well considering how far basketball video games have come. I always feel nostalgic when I dust off NBA Live 95, but I also find that I’m impressed by the quality and how much fun it can still be, given its age. Let’s look back 25 years to where it all began.

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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 history of Aussies in basketball games.

If you listen to the NLSC Podcast or pay close attention to the way I spell certain words, you’ll know that I’m an Aussie. Being a basketball fan in Australia hasn’t always been easy, even with the NBA’s explosion in popularity in the 90s, as well as the heyday of our own local league, the NBL. Sadly, the sport hasn’t always had the most favourable reputation with many of my fellow Aussies. While those of us who love hoops do so passionately, it’s always battled cricket, tennis, and at least three different codes of football (rugby, Australian Rules, and soccer) for popularity.

I’ve always felt that our struggles on the world stage have contributed to the game’s up-and-down popularity down under. The Boomers are yet to win an Olympic medal, but just this past week, they scored a huge win over the USA in the second exhibition game played in Melbourne; the first time they’ve ever defeated the US. It helps that we have a few more Aussies in the NBA these days, which also means that we see them on the virtual hardwood. In honour of the Boomers’ big win, I’m reflecting on the history of Aussies in basketball games. 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 Dream Team in NBA 2K13.

There have been several interesting (and heated) debates on the subject over the years, but for my money, the greatest squad of basketball players ever assembled was the 1992 United States men’s Olympic team, better known as the Dream Team. Featuring some of the greatest players to ever play the sport, the Dream Team breezed through the tournament, putting on a show as they won each game convincingly, never once calling a timeout. Their scrimmages are the stuff of legend, and it’s no surprise that they were enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a team in 2010.

With 2012 marking the 20th Anniversary of the Dream Team’s dominant showing in Barcelona, and Visual Concepts looking to expand the amount of historical content in NBA 2K13, adding the Dream Team was a no-brainer. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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