NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
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 reflecting on my feelings of nostalgia and indeed anemoia when playing with players from before my time in basketball games.
Like most people, my nostalgia for basketball and basketball gaming is intertwined. Whether I’m dusting off a classic game or playing with historical content in a newer title, I’m usually indulging my nostalgia for the 90s and 2000s. However, I’ve grown increasingly fond of playing with many of the Legends from before my time. This includes players who retired before I was even born, as well as those whose careers wrapped up shortly before I became a hardcore basketball fan in the mid 90s. Even though I didn’t grow up watching those players, they’re still nostalgic to me.
It may sound strange to have nostalgia for a time that I never experienced, but it’s not uncommon. In fact, John Koenig’s Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows has given a name to such feelings: the aforementioned anemoia. Needless to say, it applies to more than just basketball and basketball gaming, but it aptly describes my newfound enthusiasm for playing with players from before my time. Although it’s more of a recent habit for me, upon reflection, my introduction to basketball clearly laid the groundwork for such anemoia. Let’s take a look at how I’ve come to enjoy going back…way back…
When I think back to basketball discourse around the time that I was falling in love with hoops as a kid in the mid 90s, there was some intergenerational conflict and debate similar to today. Older fans that grew up watching Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would often champion one of them as the GOAT, while my generation generally backed Michael Jordan. I say “generally” because there were fans my age that hated MJ, or simply believed that being contrarians made them much smarter. To that point, there was a contingent of armchair analysts that claimed MJ wouldn’t have been able to handle the physicality and style of the earlier NBA.
In other words, there were some people making similar arguments to the ones that you’ll sometimes see levied at today’s stars. By the same token, some younger fans attempted to argue that the earlier eras were lacking in skill and athleticism; in short, the forerunner to the “plumbers and dentists” rhetoric that’s all too popular nowadays. However, the difference is that both of those groups were vocal minorities with fringe opinions that were more likely to result in them being laughed out of the discussion. If nothing else, ignorance of NBA history, and an inability to respect other eras or make thoughtful comparisons when talking basketball, greatly undermined your credibility.
Also, while certain fans both young and old did express ignorant and disrespectful opinions, those views seldom came from knowledgeable analysts, and certainly not the NBA itself. Several of the NBA home videos that I eagerly rented as a newly-minted basketball fan dove into the history of the sport and the league, spotlighting the great players of yesteryear. Tapes from the late 80s such as Dazzling Dunks & Basketball Bloopers were as reverent for pioneers such as George Mikan, Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, and Wilt Chamberlain, as they were for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird; and, for that matter, then-younger stars like Michael Jordan.
This portrayal of the NBA’s past, present, and future as all being equally worthy of appreciation was undeniably influential on me. It instilled a fascination with NBA history, and respect for the players from before my time. Those videos didn’t push any historical agendas, but they did promote the idea of an ongoing lineage of greatness in a beautiful sport. As such, while they didn’t change my mind about Michael Jordan being the greatest player of all-time or my preference for the then-current NBA, those videos showed me that there was way more to NBA history than what I knew and had experienced. They taught me to admire past generations of players, not sneer at them.
Mind you, although I loved watching their highlights and learning about their stories, I wasn’t necessarily keen on gaming with players from before my time. Don’t get me wrong: I was absolutely pleased to see players from the 80s and earlier included as Legends in NBA Live 2000 and subsequent games, and I’d certainly put them on the virtual hardwood from time to time. I was still more interested in playing with the Legends and other memorable players of the 90s though; especially as we entered the 2000s and their era was drawing to a close, inspiring my first big pangs of nostalgia. I never lost my appreciation for older players, but I actively missed the stars of the 90s.
And so, whenever I played with historical content, the 90s was my decade of choice. Whether it was retro season mods, classic teams in the official NBA 2K rosters, or the cards in MyTEAM and Ultimate Team, I preferred to play with the teams and players from the era that I was the most nostalgic for. I did enjoy throwing it back to the 80s as well, particularly re-creating the clashes between Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics and Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers. As someone who got into basketball in the mid 90s, Lakers vs. Celtics was this iconic part of NBA history that I’d never experienced. It’s why I really enjoyed seeing them finally meet once again in the 2008 NBA Finals.
Looking back, playing with some classic teams from the 80s for the NBA 2K14 Retro Series whet my appetite for expanding my basketball gaming habits beyond nostalgic memories. Granted, my NBA anemoia was already established by the highlights and stories from those home videos, as well as the full games from the 80s that I’ve gone back and watched, but it didn’t influence my gaming until more recently. It’s not that I’m bored of revisiting the 90s or the 2000s, but there’s a sense of freshness to hitting the virtual hardwood with these players from before my time. It definitely speaks to my anemoia for a decade in the NBA that I didn’t experience, but nevertheless admire.
I’ve also been inspired by Dee and his brothers’ Legends seasons in various games, in which they assemble a roster of their favourite all-time greats going back to the early decades of the league, and then face contemporary teams. That’s a fantastic way to combine nostalgia and anemoia while basketball gaming! It made me want to play with those legendary players from before my time more often, beginning with the stars of the 80s and then going back to the 70s and earlier. Again, I always respected those players in real life, but I was seldom encouraged to play with them in games. I was too keen to throw down dunks and create other highlights with the 90s Legends.
I still want to do that of course, but these days, I’m also enjoying playing with their forerunners, whether I’m using a classic team, All-Decade squad, or the legendary players that I’ve collected in Ultimate Team. And, as is the case with the 90s Legends, I’m having a blast trying to imitate their iconic highlights! I’m always trying to pull off incredible dunks and other aerial acrobatics with Dr. J. When I’m in control of Magic Johnson, I’m spamming flashy passes! Similarly, I’m always looking to perform some ballhandling wizardry when I’m playing with Pistol Pete, not to mention some crafty layups. I’ve loved sending back shots and running the fast break with Bill Russell.
Wilt Chamberlain has also been great to play with in NBA Live 19 Ultimate Team, whether I’m going for big swats or trying to pull off his finger roll while dominating inside. In fact, I’ve played several games in LUT 19 with the twin tower combo of Russell and Wilt, which as you’d imagine has been effective at both ends of the floor! While I’ve been building up my collection of 90s All-Stars as Ultimate Team winds down, I’ve also been mixing in those players from before my time, and running with some truly vintage lineups without anyone from the three-point era. That’s a different approach for me, and changing things up like that has been incredibly satisfying.
On top of the satisfaction of replicating some famous historical highlights, it’s been rewarding to win games using those old school players authentically, right down to an era-appropriate style. Sure, I’ll attempt the occasional three with players who could’ve knocked it down from range, the number of dunks is slightly inflated, and I may have busted out a Euro Step or two out of habit. For the most part though, I’m working in the paint and the midrange, using moves and taking the shots that those players were known for. Of course, this is where one discovers that the retro players aren’t always created with the level of accuracy we’d prefer to see, in NBA Live and NBA 2K alike.
It’s not uncommon for historical players to have poor midrange shooting ratings, even though it was the bread and butter of the era that they played in. Frequently it’s the big men that actually had a good shooting touch that are erroneously undercooked here, but point guards and wing players aren’t immune to similar inaccuracies. Many retro players are also far too slow or generally lacking in athleticism across the board. A shocking amount of players who could and would throw it down are unable or barely able to dunk, with unsuitable animations packages. To state the obvious, it’s extremely challenging to play authentically when the attributes and animations are inaccurate!
Thankfully, we can edit the historical rosters, and I’ve been able to make the best of a few underdone Legends cards in Ultimate Team as well. Even with some moments of frustration with underrated old school players, I’ve still greatly enjoyed making them a bigger part of my basketball gaming. Indeed, it’s similar to the joy that I’ve felt upon getting into a mode or an entire game that I’ve overlooked for way too long. As I said, I’ll always eagerly indulge my nostalgia for the 90s and 2000s, but playing with these players from before my time has been refreshingly enjoyable. It’s undoubtedly tapped into a love of NBA history that I developed as a young basketball fan decades ago.
Anemoia is a funny thing. Once again, it’s obviously not just limited to basketball and basketball video games, but those are the areas where I feel it the most. Reading more about anemoia, it’s not exactly surprising that I experience it. It’s frequently inspired by positive stories of the past, like the ones on so many of those NBA home videos. They made me feel engaged with that history, even though I didn’t watch it unfold. Like nostalgia, it can remind us of simpler times that felt happier or more authentic. To that end, it may actually be helpful in reducing feelings of existential anxiety and other stress. And of course, what’s vintage frequently achieves retro coolness in time.
Frankly, knowing that anemoia comes from the same dissatisfaction with the present that leads us to indulge nostalgic memories explains a lot about my basketball gaming habits as of late. For a while now, my enjoyment of both the real NBA and the current generation of NBA 2K games has been waning. It’s why I’ve prefer retro basketball gaming, and playing with rosters that I have more affection for. However, not only am I enjoying dusting off long-time favourites, but I’m delighting in spending time with old games that I don’t have any nostalgia for. I’d suggest that my interest in playing with players from before my time is born of that same disillusionment and anemoia.
Beyond representing eras that I find more appealing and interesting than the modern day, there’s also a nostalgic connection, since learning about the history of the NBA was such a big part of my early basketball fandom. There’s anemoia, yes, but I have always appreciated the pioneers and the stars that came immediately before the era I grew up watching. Making an effort to play with them has helped me to deepen that appreciation, and reconnect with my love of basketball and its history. I’ll be sorry to lose all the Legends when NBA Live 19 Ultimate Team shuts down, but fortunately, I have other ways to indulge nostalgia and anemoia through retro basketball gaming.
