Wayback Wednesday: Throwback Stints in NBA Live 06 Xbox 360

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 some throwback stints, as portrayed by the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06.

Tinkering with the rosters to set up fun scenarios and minimalist modding projects has become a staple of my retro basketball gaming. I enjoy the challenge of seeing what can be done with the assets I have at my disposal, and it’s gratifying whenever I’m able to cobble together something that I can at least get a game or two out of. Some attempts are more successful than others as far as creating playable scenarios, but if nothing else, I’ll get some interesting screenshots out of my endeavours. That’s what happened while I was on my extended retro kick with NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360.

While exploring the idea of a makeshift classic teams roster – something that fell apart thanks to a roster editing glitch that can happen way too easily – I ended up placing a number of players on their former teams, and taking some screenshots. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with those screens, but I didn’t want my efforts to go to waste, and figured that they’d come in handy for an article somewhere down the line. I may find further use for them yet, but for now, here are some throwback stints that I set up in the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Darius Miles & The 2002 Los Angeles Clippers

The 2001-2002 Los Angeles Clippers are one of my favourite “Video Game Teams“: a squad that didn’t achieve much success in real life, but are nevertheless fun to play with on the virtual hardwood. They had some legitimate young talent at their disposal, including Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson, and of course, Darius Miles. Miles is a player that many of us had high hopes for, even if we weren’t Clippers fans. He was raw, but athletic and exciting to watch. In that sense, he somewhat embodied that Clippers team as a whole! Also, over twenty years later, I still remember that wild lob from Odom to Miles after Sean Rooks’ long outlet pass.

To that point, when someone mentions Darius Miles, I tend to picture him on the Clippers. The funny thing about that is he only spent the first two years of his career in LA. He actually had a longer tenure with the Portland Trail Blazers, though due to his injuries, he did actually play more games in his two Clippers years than he did in two and a half with the Blazers (163-145). They were more exciting times too, thanks to his flashes of brilliance in real life, as well as how good he could be on the virtual hardwood. Unsurprisingly, it’s quite easy to assemble the core rotation of the 2002 Clippers in NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360, which is why I created them in that roster.

What Happened to the Kings After 2002?

We all know the story of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. It’s simultaneously one of the most exciting and controversial NBA Playoffs series, not just in the last twenty years or so, but of all-time. There’s still a contentious debate about it, mainly because while the Sacramento Kings did seemingly have to battle the referees as well as the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, they also made their own blunders that blew winnable games. In any case, the controversy tends to overshadow what came next for the Kings. While 2002 remains the closest they’ve come to a title since they won one as the Rochester Royals, the Kings didn’t immediately fade into obscurity.

In fact, the 2003 Kings topped the Pacific Division for the second year in a row, going 59-23; only two wins behind their 2002 mark. They fell to the Mavericks in a seven game clash in the second round, as Chris Webber went down with a knee injury that sidelined him for most of the 2004 season. Still, they went 55-27 with C-Webb only playing 24 games, before another second round exit in seven, this time at the hands of the Timberwolves. Sure, the 2002 Kings are more memorable, but the team had a few strong years after that. It’s something that I was reminded of when I created the 2003 Kings in NBA Live 06, a choice I made because the jerseys would still be accurate.

Employee No. 88

As of writing, just nine players have worn #88 in the NBA. That’s hardly surprising, as jersey numbers above 55 are unorthodox and thus rare. If you had to associate #88 with any one player, it would probably be Nicolas Batum, who wore it in over 500 games (including Playoffs) while playing for the Blazers. He wasn’t the first NBA player to officially don it in a game, however. That distinction goes to three-time All-Star Antoine Walker, following his return to the Boston Celtics in 2005. ‘Toine, who is also famously known as Employee Number Eight, found that his former number was now taken by rookie Al Jefferson. Therefore, Walker chose to wear #88 instead.

Walker only ever wore #88 for his first two road games back with the Celtics, against the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns. In his first home game after returning to Boston – a showdown with the rival Los Angeles Lakers – he was back in #8, as Jefferson had graciously agreed to switch without compensation. Walker’s return stint to Boston doesn’t have any official representation in video games – wearing #88 or #8 – which is one of the reasons that I re-created it while dabbling in NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360. A roster that represents rare games and brief stints is an idea that I’ve mentioned before, and Walker in #88 is a prime example of an oddity that such a roster would include.

Rasheed Wallace, One-Time Atlanta Hawk (Literally)

If we’re talking about odd sights and overlooked stints that would be included in a roster celebrating rare games, then there’s no way we can go past Rasheed Wallace’s lone appearance for the Atlanta Hawks in 2004! I talked about Wallace’s Georgian sojourn when I covered stints that have no official representation in video games, and subsequently posted a correction as I’d overlooked that he’s actually on the Hawks’ roster in Midway’s NBA Ballers. As I noted when I posted that correction, it gives us some insight into the development of the game. Clearly the rosters were finalised around mid February 2004, just a couple of months ahead of its release in April.

At the time, the developers probably felt that they’d been able to sneak in a late update that allowed the rosters to be accurate for the rest of the 2004 season. Instead, it ended up capturing a very brief stint! On February 19th – just ten days after being acquired by the Hawks, and one day after debuting for them – Sheed was traded again, joining the Detroit Pistons and becoming an integral part of an underdog team that toppled the favoured Lakers in the NBA Finals. When I discussed Sheed’s solo Hawks game in The Friday Five, I set up that matchup with the New Jersey Nets in NBA Live 2004 for an appropriate screenshot. However, I also like how it looks in NBA Live 06.

Vin Baker on the Milwaukee Bucks

I can’t begin to tell you how much I loathe the “plumbers and dentists” rhetoric that people use to dismiss past eras of basketball. That wretched phrase began life as a comment from a troll account on Twitter/X, and somehow, it’s come to be believed as the truth. As such, even if it began as a joke, it’s permanently polluted basketball discourse. The problem is that outside of the big stars of every era, there are talented players that are forgotten as they aren’t talked about as much (or indeed, enough). Just wait; some day, LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant may well be derided for supposedly facing “YouTubers and Twitch streamers” instead of “real athletes”!

The point is that in every era, there are talented players who are sadly soon forgotten. Vin Baker is one from the 90s, admittedly in large part because his off-court struggles derailed a once-promising career. As a young Buck though, Baker was one the NBA’s best big men. He became a constant 20 and 10 threat, proved extremely durable while playing over 40 minutes per game, was great in the post with a solid shooting touch, and turned enough heads to earn his first three All-Star appearances despite playing for some awful Milwaukee teams. Trying to re-create said teams in NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360 made me realise that some mid 90s rosters would be quite viable on PC!

Those Early 2000s Bulls…Yikes!

Classic team rosters are normally filled with historically significant teams such as champions and their opponents, perennial contenders, one season wonders, fun underdogs, and so on. There’s room for creative and unorthodox choices, but we don’t normally opt to include the worst teams throughout history. Of course, that’s actually still an interesting idea for a throwback roster! If you were to create such a mod, it’d likely be the only time outside of a full retro season roster that you’d create the 2001 Chicago Bulls. With that being said, while I was on my NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360 kick, I did indeed reassemble one of the lousiest teams in Bulls and league history!

Why do that? Well, even though it wasn’t fun to be a Bulls fan in the early 2000s, or to play with them in video games, I still have some odd nostalgia for them. After all, I was trying my best to be optimistic and support my favourite team in a rebuilding era, having jumped on the bandwagon during the Michael Jordan Era. I certainly tried to enjoy playing with them in NBA Live 2001 and 2002, and while that was difficult, I did come to know those rosters quite well. To this day, I still get a kick out of turning Marcus Fizer into a beast on the virtual hardwood! That alone is enough to make me at least consider tackling the idea of a Terrible Throwback Teams roster some day.

Throwback to Knicks Spree Throwing Down

When it comes to Latrell Sprewell and NBA Live 06, I have very fond memories of signing him during my Chicago Bulls Dynasty on PC to back up Ben Gordon (and also fill in for him while he was out with a broken wrist). He was of course a free agent in that game by default, following his infamous refusal of what he felt was a lowball offer from the Timberwolves. Indeed, “infamous” is a word that seems to loom over Spree’s career, which is a shame because he was an immensely talented player. Like Vin Baker, he’s another multi-time All-Star from the 90s that people overlook when erroneously claiming that the talent level was watered down then.

Although he had a couple of solid years in Minnesota and helped them to have their best season to date back in 2004, Sprewell’s best performances came with the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks. His Warriors years were fun to watch – I still remember his assortment of dunks in the 1997 All-Star Game – but even as a Bulls fan, I enjoyed seeing him lead some underdog Knicks teams to impressive victories. This re-creation of the 2001 Knicks in NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360 is a throwback to that Spree, though his finest moments came a couple of years earlier in the 1999 NBA Finals. I was glad to see that squad added to NBA 2K’s retro teams a few years back.

Gary Payton’s Last Full Season in Seattle

“Mr. Sonic” may be a moniker that officially belongs to Nate McMillan, but it just as easily applies to his former teammate Gary Payton. Even taking the Oklahoma City Thunder’s records into account – and I realise it’s extremely controversial to do so – The Glove is still the franchise’s all-time leader in games, minutes, field goals made and attempted, assists, steals, and a couple of advanced metrics as well. Ignoring the Thunder years, he also has the most points in SuperSonics history, and the most triple-doubles (Russell Westbrook has a huge lead there if you do count the records set in Oklahoma City). If/when the Sonics return, Payton’s #20 is sure to go into the rafters.

Of course, Payton’s exit from Seattle in 2003 was unceremonious, and born of his clash with then-owner Howard Schultz. The Glove skipped the first day of training camp in 2002, leading to Schultz calling for him to be traded. Payton was sent to Milwaukee midseason, in the process coming up one game short of 1000 in a Sonics uniform. The spat with GP and eventual sale of the team that led to their relocation certainly made Schultz an unpopular figure in Seattle! As for Payton, while he won a ring with Miami in 2006, it never looked quite right seeing him in another jersey. To that end, I put him on a makeshift 2002 Sonics team while tinkering in NBA Live 06.

Kevin Willis’ Mavericks Comeback

So, while this is a throwback stint relative to the modern day, it’s actually a future stint from the perspective of NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360! As you may or may not remember, Kevin Willis signed with the Atlanta Hawks in September 2004, almost ten years after they had traded him to the Miami Heat. By that point however, he was entering his twentieth season and well past his prime. It therefore wasn’t exactly a triumphant return, but it still made him a familiar face back in a familiar place! Willis retired at the end of the season, but he was still available in the Free Agents in NBA Live 06, along with a handful of other veterans whose NBA careers ended in 2005.

Not so fast on Willis, though! He made a surprising comeback with the Mavericks late in 2007, playing five games before retiring again. I anticipated discussing that stint at some point, and wanted to get a screenshot ahead of time. Since Willis isn’t in the official rosters of any version of NBA Live 07, I set up this one in NBA Live 06. Incidentally, that stint made Willis the second-oldest player to play an NBA game. Had he not missed the entire 1989 season, he’d have also played 22 years, tying Vince Carter for the most. As it stands, he’s the last active player from the Class of 1984, and along with Cliff Robinson, one of the last two active players drafted in the 80s.

Throwback to Keith Van Horn on the Nets

The more that I tinkered with a makeshift classic teams roster for the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06, the more I started thinking I should’ve just made a 2002 roster instead! With a handful of journeymen being shared by a few of the retro squads that were feasible, and no way to duplicate them – outside of the bug that messed everything up of course – a 2002 roster would’ve been much easier. With that being said, I did end up assembling the 2002 New Jersey Nets to be an opponent for the Lakers, who of course defeated them in the Finals to complete a threepeat. That meant Keith Van Horn was back in New Jersey, along with free agent Kerry Kittles.

While the Class of 1997 is understandably remembered as “Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady, Chauncey Billups, and everyone else”, at the time, Keith Van Horn was rightfully considered a star of the future. His numbers had dipped by 2002 with the arrival of Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin, but in five years with the Nets, Van Horn averaged 18.2 points and 7.6 rebounds, shooting 34.6% from downtown as a versatile power forward. I’m aware of his later stints – especially as I was maintaining roster updates for NBA Live during those years – but I mostly remember him as a promising young New Jersey Net. Had he come along a few years later, he’d have really thrived!

Derrick Coleman, Tom Gugliotta, & Glenn Robinson

Tom Gugliotta’s career and its impact on where you can find him in basketball video games is worthy of a much deeper dive, but the short version of the most interesting part is that thanks to being traded twice during the 1995 season, he appears on three different teams in various games set during that campaign. The third and final team was the Timberwolves, and it’s the stint that usually comes to mind when I think of Googs. We tend to associate players with the team they were on when we first get into basketball and basketball gaming, so for me, Gugliotta will always be linked to the Timberwolves. Funnily enough though, he had a longer stint with the Phoenix Suns!

As for Glenn Robinson, he was a teammate of Vin Baker on those aforementioned lousy Milwaukee Bucks squads. It’s a stint that lasted longer than I often recall, as the Big Dog didn’t depart Milwaukee until 2002. Meanwhile, though Derrick Coleman is best remembered as a Net, putting up his best numbers and playing most of his career games while in New Jersey, his six seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers – divided into two stints – represent his longest tenure. Googs, Big Dog, and DC all retired after the 2005 season, and are free agents in NBA Live 06. Placing them on their 90s teams on Xbox 360 only further encouraged me to consider a retro roster for the PC version.

A Shaq Attack is a Timeless Throwback

Let’s wrap things up with a screenshot of Shaquille O’Neal back on the Lakers in NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360! Ten years after gracing the cover of NBA Live 96, Shaq was the face of NBA 2K6, while his teammate Dwyane Wade was NBA Live 06’s cover star. This meant that in 2006, both NBA Live and NBA 2K could boast a cover player that won the championship that same season, with EA getting extra bragging rights thanks to Wade also taking home Finals MVP honours. That remains fun trivia all these years later, but as far as retro gaming is concerned, in both NBA Live 06 and NBA 2K6 alike, it’s a blast to put Shaq back on the Lakers for some throwback action.

Shaq may not have the aerial flair of a Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, or Dominique Wilkins, but his powerful slams and backboard-destroying acumen make him one of the most entertaining dunkers in league history. To that end, it never gets old throwing down a Shaq Attack on the virtual hardwood, even going back to his earliest video game appearances. Although Shaq doesn’t look out of place in an Orlando Magic or Miami Heat jersey – and we even got used to seeing him in Phoenix, Cleveland, and Boston – I think most of us picture him wearing #34 in Lakers purple and gold. It only made sense to reunite him with Kobe Bryant while messing around with 06’s rosters.

And that does it for throwback stints I assembled while tinkering with the rosters in NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360! I’m sure that some of them will come up again as I look at NBA history through the lens of basketball video games, but for now, I’ve enjoyed sharing the screenshots that I took during my retro kick. Revisiting NBA Live 06 on 360 gave me a new appreciation for it, but also reminded me of my love of the PC version, and got me thinking about modding it. It also helped to solidify minimalist modding as a way to enhance retro gaming. Default rosters are interactive almanacs and that’ll always be enjoyable, but never be afraid to create your own retro fun!

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