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 Part 21 in an ongoing series looking at players who only appeared on certain teams in video games.

Remember when I said this series was done with Part 20? I lied! Well, to be fair, I did say that it was done “for now”. Part 20 was the last instalment that I had planned coming into 2024, as it’s been my intention to move on to other topics here in The Friday Five. However, I did leave the door open for a Part 21 at least, as thanks to David L’s help and my own research/serendipitous discoveries, there are some more examples to discuss. Even though I would like to explore some other topics, there’s no sense in delaying this postscript instalment.

Unlike Part 20, I don’t have a consistent theme for this group of players who only appeared on certain teams in games. As it stands, I was lucky that I still had five players whose phantom stints could all be found in NBA Live 2000 in order to give Part 20 an added motif. At this point, I’ve also covered the biggest names and most prominent examples of players who only appeared on certain teams in games. Of course, the more obscure names are still worth talking about, especially as they can jog the memories of long-time fans who haven’t thought about those players in years. With that being said, let’s take a look at five more phantom stints…for now…honest!

1. & 2. B.J. Armstrong & Jerome Kersey (Toronto Raptors, NBA in the Zone)

In 1992, B.J. Armstrong and Jerome Kersey were opponents in the NBA Finals, though the main attraction of that showdown was obviously Michael Jordan vs. Clyde Drexler. At the time, Armstrong was John Paxson’s backup, while Kersey started on the wing alongside The Glide. Their careers began heading in the opposite direction the following year however, as Armstrong was promoted to the starting lineup (and then made the All-Star team the year after that), while Kersey’s role in Portland began to diminish. By 1995 though, both had fallen out favour with their respective teams, and were left unprotected in the Expansion Draft, where they were taken by Toronto.

The former Finals foes were destined to become teammates, but it wouldn’t happen with the Raptors. Armstrong refused to report to his new club, which forced them to trade him to the Golden State Warriors in September. A few weeks later, Kersey was waived by the Raptors, clearing the way for him to latch on with the Warriors as well. Konami’s NBA in the Zone – which came out after the Expansion Draft, but before the resolution of the lockout – placed both players on the Raptors, wearing placeholder numbers in the 90s. The Vancouver Grizzlies’ newly-acquired players also sported placeholder jersey numbers in the 80s, though they all ended up playing for the team.

As for B.J. Armstrong and Jerome Kersey, their appearance on the Raptors is unique to NBA in the Zone. The 16-bit version of NBA Live 96 – also released prior to the end of the lockout, and featuring an Expansion Draft – placed them on the Bulls and Trail Blazers respectively. They can of course be selected by the Grizzlies or Raptors if you wish. In the PC and PlayStation version of NBA Live 96, and other games set in the 1996 season, you can find them on the Warriors. As for the Raptors, they used two of their first ten Expansion Draft picks (the very first pick in Armstrong’s case) on players that would never suit up for them…except in NBA in the Zone, of course.

3. Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA Live 2005 & Orlando Magic, NBA 2K6)

Since it’s retroactively become one of my all-time favourite basketball video games, I’ve seen fit to mess around with the rosters of NBA 2K6 for Xbox 360. That includes updating them with final 2006 season lineups, rolling them back to final 2005 rosters, assembling makeshift classic teams, and even cobbling together a minimalist all-time roster. In the course of that tinkering, I noticed that Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje was on the Orlando Magic. This was puzzling, as not only did I not recall him ever playing for the Magic, but I was sure that he wasn’t even in the league as of 2006. Basketball Reference confirmed that, but I needed to hit up RealGM for some additional details.

While Basketball Reference notes his trade to Cleveland in 2004 – a phantom stint that ended up in NBA Live 2005 PC despite his free agent status – it doesn’t list any of his subsequent signings. Conversely, RealGM records that after briefly latching on with the San Antonio Spurs late in the 2004 offseason, his next attempt at an NBA return came in August 2005, when he signed with the Magic after playing for them in the Summer League. When Orlando released Boumtje-Boumtje in October, the rosters in NBA 2K6 for Xbox 360 had already been finalised, making him one of a few names in that release to become players who only appeared on certain teams in video games.

4. Perry Jones (Boston Celtics, NBA 2K16)

Players who spent their entire careers with one team are increasingly rare these days. Even some of the biggest names in NBA history have suited up for more than one club of course, but all-time greats were once more likely to spend their entire career in one city. Mind you, there are also some role players who only ever played for one team. Udonis Haslem is an extreme example, becoming the first undrafted player to play twenty years in the league, all for the Miami Heat. Jeff Foster played all thirteen of his NBA seasons for the Indiana Pacers. Even players with brief careers like Chris Crawford can boast a multi-year tenure with one team (namely the Atlanta Hawks).

Technically, the same can be said of Perry Jones, who spent his only three years in the NBA with the Oklahoma City Thunder. A first round pick in 2012, Jones didn’t see a lot of court time behind Kevin Durant and other more established frontcourt players on OKC’s roster. In July 2015, Jones was traded to the Boston Celtics, and appeared on their default roster in NBA 2K16. He also played five preseason games for them before being cut in October, effectively making it a phantom stint. Jones is still active as of 2024, so it’s possible that he’ll someday have a tangible stint with another NBA team. In any event, NBA 2K16 captured his brief Celtics tenure in the 2015 offseason.

5. Leandro Barbosa (Washington Wizards, NBA 2K13)

Nicknamed The Brazilian Blur owing to being one of the most fleet-footed players in the league, Leandro Barbosa won a title with the Golden State Warriors in 2015. He’s probably still best remembered as the top bench player on the Steve Nash-led “Seven Seconds or Less” Phoenix Suns during the mid to late 2000s though, and was even the Sixth Man of the Year in 2007. Although he was traded to the Toronto Raptors in the 2010 offseason, he returned to the Suns midway through the 2014 season – initially on two ten-day contracts – and then had a third stint with them in 2017, his final year in the league. As such, Barbosa twice became a familiar face back in a familiar place.

Since he’s on this list, he’s obviously also an example of a player who only appeared on a certain team in a video game. Barbosa’s phantom stint came with the Washington Wizards, a result of a midseason trade that saw him sent from Boston to DC along with Jason Collins in exchange for Jordan Crawford. With Barbosa never playing a game for the Wizards and Collins seeing miniscule minutes in just six outings, you could definitely say that the Celtics got the better end of the deal by default. Barbosa remained on the Wizards’ roster through to the end of the season despite being out of the rotation, with the move being reflected in NBA 2K13’s official roster updates.

And that’ll do it…for now…most likely! Once again, I can’t rule out further instalments in this series, but I am at the end of the examples that I have on hand, and as I said, I’ve now covered the most prominent and interesting names to date. To that point, do you remember these phantom stints? Are there any that I haven’t covered that I really should have? Let me know in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! 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.