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 things that I’ve learned in the twenty years that I’ve been running the NLSC.

Yes, as of yesterday, I’ve officially been running the NLSC for twenty years! It was an overwhelming thought when I realised a few years back that I’d been running the site for as long as I hadn’t been running it, and now the scales have tipped in the other direction. As I’ve been saying as I’ve hit milestone after milestone, I don’t know how long I’ll end up running the site, except to say that as long as I’m enjoying myself and am able to put in the time and effort, I’ll keep doing it. Right now, I have no plans to stop anytime soon, as it’s both a passion and an immensely satisfying creative outlet.

Of course, even though the NLSC is about having fun with basketball video games, the task of running the site hasn’t always been fun and games! I’ve connected with some great people over the years thanks to our mutual appreciation of the virtual hardwood, had tremendous opportunities such as attending community events in the USA and Canada, and produced content that I’m quite proud of. At the same time, there has been unpleasantness, difficult people, and stressful times where I’ve thought about stepping away. Still, the tough times have been learning experiences as much as the good ones, and to that end, running the NLSC has taught me these five things.

1. Not Everyone Is Going To Like You, Or Your Content

Let’s start with a lesson that you learn in many places in life, but particularly when you become a content creator, as well as hold a position of authority in a community (such as a forum moderator or administrator): not everyone is going to like you, and what you do. Of course, sometimes that’s on you and how you handle your business, especially when there’s conflict. I’m human, and I make mistakes. Looking back, there are situations that I’d definitely handle differently, and times when I’ve been thankful for people’s understanding and forgiveness. I’d like to think I’ve matured and grown in the twenty years I’ve been running the NLSC, and that I can continue to improve.

Unfortunately, not everyone is going to be reasonable about your actions and errors, or take responsibility and be introspective about theirs. It’s led to some acrimonious partings over the years, and rather nasty comments about me being posted elsewhere. It’s not pleasant when I’ve been shown or stumbled across them, but it emphasises how difficult the person in question is. I will say that if you’re still posting insulting things about me years afterwards, it’s profoundly pathetic. In a more general sense, not everyone is going to like your content or agree with your opinions. Sometimes you’ll just have to agree to disagree, and accept that not everyone will like your style.

2. Picking The Right Personnel Is Vital

I’m extremely grateful for all the help that I’ve had keeping the NLSC going for these twenty years. From the people who have provided content for the site to those who have helped out moderating in the Forum, it’s been much, much easier with additional hands on deck. People have come and gone from the NLSC Team and the community, but for the most part, it’s been great to have them volunteer their time and energy to be part of the staff. Unfortunately, one of the lessons I’ve learned the hard way is that not everyone who agrees to join the NLSC Team is truly dedicated to or interested in helping to keep the site running smoothly, and being the best that it possibly can be.

There have been a couple of people who joined the staff, only to disappear shortly afterwards. We once had a modder that quite eagerly joined the team, only to never release any work or tutorials, or help out in any way around the site once they did. Other people turned out to be quite toxic, not only to community members but also me and other people on the team. Considering that we’re non-profit and being part of the team is volunteer-based, I’ll never look a gift horse in the mouth when it comes to people who want to join. However, I’ve learned to make sure they want to contribute, and are willing to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects well on the NLSC.

3. You Have To Be Flexible & Move With The Times

Truth be told, while this is something that I’ve learned in the twenty years that I’ve been running the NLSC, I’m still trying to get better at putting it into practice. I’ll freely admit to being a creature of habit, and I’m leery of changing anything that’s still working, or simply changing something for change’s sake. I’m sure that comes across as being rather stubborn or overly cautious, but I always want to do my due diligence before making drastic changes, or experimenting with an idea that’s riskier. With that being said, I’m glad that I’ve had team members who will push for change and nudge me in the right direction by selling me on great ideas that I’ve been wary of trying.

I’ve also appreciated their patience when I’ve been too overbearing as an editor, to the point where I ended up changing a team member’s voice in the articles that they were writing. I was initially taken aback by their objection, but I realised what I was doing and resolved to be more hands-off, providing a style guide but not changing any of their words. I’ve also been moved to evaluate the content I’m producing and try new things, from the topics I cover to changing up the medium with more videos. I realise I’m something of a dinosaur writing articles in the era of YouTube and Twitch, but I’ve learned to be open to new ideas with the NLSC, and try them out whenever I can.

4. It’s Possible To Have Too Many Good/Fun Ideas

Speaking of good ideas, another painful lesson that I’ve learned over the twenty years that I’ve been running the NLSC is that it’s possible to have too many of them. I’ve had plenty of ideas for features and mods that I’ve never been able to get around to doing because I don’t know which project to begin with, or I’ve undertaken too many at once. It’s pulled me in several directions, and ultimately left projects unfinished. At the end of the day, I’m just one person, I have other responsibilities, and there are only so many hours per week that I can dedicate to the NLSC. Whether it’s been modding, articles, or videos, there are some good ideas that I’ve wanted to do, but had to let go.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’m pleased that I’ve been able to establish weekly features that I’m always able to deliver on. Part of that has been building up a buffer, and ensuring that I’m usually at least a week or two ahead in scheduling features; as it happens, this very Friday Five was written over a month ago! It means that I’m not stretching myself too thin, or rushing to beat deadlines as I would be when I wasn’t as organised. Even when some of the ideas I had for the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live celebrations fell through, I’ve kept them in mind for future Wayback Wednesday features. It’s all about time management, and trying not to overextend on projects.

5. Passion Is The Best Motivation

The reason that I’ve been running the NLSC for twenty years and counting, and that I produce all of the content that I do, is because I’m passionate about it. I’m passionate about basketball gaming, and that drives me to embark on creative endeavours based on one of my hobbies. I talk about the aspects of basketball gaming that I want to talk about, and produce content that’s fuelled by my experiences on the virtual hardwood. Sure, I could possibly build a bigger brand, maybe even make the NLSC my job, if I chased trends and created content accordingly. I couldn’t be passionate about that though, and I believe that would ultimately come across in whatever content I created.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t want to create MyPLAYER build videos, or stream MyTEAM pack openings. That’s not a knock on those who do; I just can’t dedicate myself to that stuff. I don’t want to create clickbait videos where I ramble about news without saying anything of substance, either. I will, without naming names, broadly criticise people who do that. I don’t want to trick or manipulate an audience, or churn out content I don’t enjoy making, just because it’ll get clicks and views. The downside is that I may be producing more niche content, but I appreciate everyone who takes the time to consume it. I hope that my passion and sincerity always comes through.

Twenty years running the NLSC…again, it’s overwhelming to think about! Thank you to everyone who has supported the site throughout all of its ups and downs over the years. While I do this out of a love of basketball gaming, it’s so great – and humbling – to have an appreciative audience. I hope you’ll stick around and enjoy everything that goes on here, from NLSC Forum discussion and the work of the modding community to our original content. As long as I’m doing this, I want the NLSC to be your source for basketball gaming. 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.