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 corrections to previous articles that I’ve written.

Guess what? I’m not perfect. Just ask former Forum members that we’ve had to show the door for one reason or another; especially the ones that email me long diatribes, or bash me in social media and blog posts! Alright, maybe don’t listen to them. For all my faults, I’d like to think I’m not the wretched stain on humanity that they paint me as being. Wry potshots at disillusioned denizens of days gone by aside, I do make mistakes. I’m not infallible in my knowledge of basketball and basketball gaming, and to that end, occasionally I’ve erred and failed to double-check for accuracy.

I’d also like to think that my features, be they articles or videos, have continued to improve. I’ve been able to develop a style, hone my writing and editing skills, and devise some interesting topics to discuss. At least, I hope that’s been the case! I’ve also made it a point to ensure that I do the necessary research regarding details that aren’t widely known, or otherwise embedded in my memory. However, there are still times when I’ve trusted my recollections when I shouldn’t have, as well as a few things that I didn’t know until I expanded my basketball video game collection. In the interests of transparency and accuracy, here are five corrections I’m making to previous articles.

1. Halftime Shows Debuted in NBA Live 97

Let’s begin with an example of a detail that I can’t believe I overlooked, and proof that I shouldn’t rely solely on my memory when I produce Wayback Wednesday features.  In one of my earlier Wayback articles, I profiled the old halftime shows that appeared in NBA Live from NBA Live 98 through NBA Live 2000. That’s not exactly accurate, though. Halftime shows were indeed included in NBA Live 98 through 2000, but they actually debuted in NBA Live 97; a fact that I completely overlooked in that article. It wasn’t until Pep mentioned it in the comments that I went back and double-checked, and he was indeed correct. Again, it was a clear reminder: do the damn research!

As the remaining examples on this list demonstrate, unfortunately I didn’t always heed that message. Again, it’s why I’m taking the opportunity to offer up some corrections now. To that point however, I’ve wondered if I should revisit some of the topics of my earlier articles. I sometimes look back at those features from before I’d really found my style and voice, and I’m not always pleased with them. I enjoyed redoing a few of my retrospectives for the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live and was far more satisfied with the results, so perhaps I will take another look at games and features that I’ve already profiled in Wayback Wednesday, while making any corrections as necessary.

2. Charles Barkley was a Legend in NBA 2K6

Now, I never specifically said that Charles Barkley wasn’t a Legend in NBA 2K6. Not knowing that fact though, and therefore not accounting for it, did lead me to make an incorrect statement when I took a look at longevity records on the virtual hardwood. In that article, I listed Sir Charles as having the most years between appearances as a Legend (12). This span reflects the amount of time between NBA Live 2001 and his inclusion as part of the Dream Team in NBA 2K13. His appearance in NBA 2K6 actually ended that streak in 2005 however, which means by NBA 2K13, it had only been seven years since Charles Barkley was officially included in a basketball game.

That may still be the record, though it’s one he shares with Michael Jordan, who last appeared in NBA Live as a Legend in NBA Live 2004, and then obviously returned with much fanfare in NBA 2K11. As far as my research indicates, Julius Erving still holds the record for the longest time between official video game appearances in any capacity at sixteen years. Charles Barkley’s appearance in NBA 2K6 certainly flies under the radar, though it may just be because I haven’t spent as much time with the earlier NBA 2K titles. He’s very adamant about the conditions for appearing in games though, so in my defense, his few official appearances are very easy to overlook.

3. Most Old Games Had Outdated All-Star Courts

Shout out once again to Pep, whose comments have not only provided corrections, but also further details and ideas for future articles! Here’s another example of the former, as Pep noted an inaccurate statement I’d made when talking about outdated details in various games. I specifically noted that NBA Live 97 featured the All-Star court and jerseys from the 1996 All-Star Weekend, which was correct. I was also correct in saying that NBA Live 96 PC had been updated with the 1996 court. I was incorrect when I implied that other NBA Live titles from around that time didn’t have similarly outdated All-Star branding. That was actually the case until the early to mid 2000s.

Once again, I’d relied on my memory, and it had let me down. I was sure that NBA Live 98 featured the 1998 court in New York (it didn’t), and that NBA Live 99 had given us a glimpse of an unused 1999 court in Philadelphia (nope). Although these corrections don’t change the overall point – NBA Live 97 did have an outdated All-Star court – it does change the context. If I were to re-write that article, I’d talk about the outdated All-Star branding in general and cite examples and exceptions, rather than just single out NBA Live 97. I could’ve sworn I saw those courts in NBA Live 98 and 99 though, but they’re obviously false memories. It’s why I should’ve looked first!

4. Clarification on the 2K Insider’s Role

Back in 2017, I profiled the 2K Insider in Wayback Wednesday. It was a fun article to write because the Insider was both an in-game character, and a mysterious figure on the NBA 2K development team. Looking back, there aren’t really any inaccuracies in the article, but there is some missing information about the role “Sy” played. I didn’t mention that although their in-game character debuted in NBA 2K10, the Insider was a gimmick for the person behind the rosters as of NBA 2K9. That was the year that Living Rosters debuted. Much like Dynamic DNA in NBA Live 09, it was an effort to bring more detail and accuracy to NBA 2K9’s rosters compared to previous games.

To quote previews of NBA 2K9, the 2K Insider was “working behind the scenes, pouring (sic) over the stats and spreadsheets”, and the person “ultimately responsible for the content and accuracy of the Living Rosters updates”. That does line up with what I said in my previous article, but I did leave out some important back story, in particular the concept of Living Rosters. As for how successful the concept was, your mileage may vary, though it’s worth noting that NBA 2K9 had some notably inflated Overall Ratings for several players, as a result of some rather questionable attributes. In any case, omitting some relevant details makes that article worthy of a follow-up.

5. All-Time College Teams Were in NBA 2K17 PC

I’ll wrap up this list of corrections with another example that isn’t strictly an error in context, but the omission of certain details does lead to an incomplete story. When I profiled the All-Time College Teams DLC for NBA 2K17, I lamented that it was only available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That was a factual statement, at least as far as the DLC is concerned. What I neglected to mention is that those teams are actually in the PC version of NBA 2K17. They could only be unlocked via modding the roster, but to that end, they are definitely present on PC. Dee4Three has been able to make use of them to add even more squads to the Ultimate Classic Teams Roster.

Of course, this brings up another issue that I didn’t touch upon in my article: on-disc DLC and paid unlocks. It’s a controversial practice, and it would’ve been relevant to discuss it when I took a look back at the All-Time College Teams DLC, especially as there are similar examples in NBA 2K12’s pre-order exclusives, and Jay-Z’s squad in NBA Live 07. I’ll save that topic for another time (except to say that I’m not a fan of the practice), but I did want to include it among the corrections to previous articles that I’m making here today. We all get things wrong from time to time, and there’s no shame in putting your hand up and admitting it, and making the necessary corrections.

Have you noticed any other mistakes in my articles that require corrections? Let me know in the comments or in the NLSC Forum, and if I have enough examples, I’ll follow-up with more corrections articles! In the meantime, that’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.