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 another list of five stints that never officially appeared in basketball video games.
It’s Part 3 in what is becoming an ongoing series recalling stints that never officially appeared in video games! I’m always wary of spending too long on certain topics, but since I ended up going to Part 21 in my series about players who only appeared on certain teams in games, a third article definitely isn’t that crazy. Besides, as long as there are interesting examples to talk about and stories to revisit, I’d rather not leave them on the table. Considering that all five players this time around were All-Stars, they’re undoubtedly too important not to discuss!
When it comes to stints that don’t officially appear in any video games, it’s usually because it was a very brief tenure, and generally the result of a midseason signing or trade. Alternatively, the move may have happened quite early in the year or even in the offseason, but missed the roster cut-off date for the game, and no official roster update ever accounted for it (in many cases because the game predates such updates becoming commonplace). This list contains examples of both, as well as a rather unique example that’s…well, there’s no question that it belongs on a list of stints with no official representation, but at the same time, it sort of was included. Let’s begin!
There’s a running theme with the first four players on this list: stars of the 90s who deserved to end their careers with more fanfare, or at least a more dignified send-off. After accepting a role as the third banana and winning a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000, Glen Rice was traded to New York and took on a bench role; not surprising since they already had All-Stars Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston, who were younger and still in their prime. After a solid season as a sixth man, he was traded to Houston. Although this granted him the opportunity to start again, Rice was hobbled by plantar fasciitis, affecting his performance as he played in just 20 games.
G-Money had a better 2003 campaign, playing in 62 games and scoring 9 ppg in 24 mpg, mostly off the bench. He was unceremoniously traded to the Utah Jazz for John Amaechi in the offseason though, and after being cut loose, Rice latched on with the Clippers for what was his final NBA stint. As that signing didn’t occur until October, Rice can either be found on the Rockets or the Free Agents in the 2004 season games, with his phantom Jazz stint thus also being unaccounted for. As for his time with the Clippers, it only lasted 18 games during which he averaged just 3.7 ppg. Rice was released by the team on January 16th, bringing his 15-year NBA career to an end.
As I’ve mentioned before, Tim Hardaway is one of those players with stints that lasted longer than I often remember. Tim Bug was still with the Heat as of the 2001 season, a campaign in which he played and started in 77 games, averaging a respectable 14.9 ppg and 6.3 apg as he entered his mid 30s. He had a poor showing as the Heat were swept by the Hornets in the first round however, and was traded to Dallas for a second round pick in the offseason, where he became Steve Nash’s backup. Hardaway was then traded to Denver midseason, starting in all 14 games he played for them. This short Nuggets stint was also notable for his suspension after throwing a TV monitor.
While that controversial incident no doubt made it a memorable stint for fans who were watching at the time, there are no video games with official rosters that remind us of Hardaway’s Mile High adventures. The master of the killer crossover actually retired after the 2002 season to become an analyst for ESPN, but made a comeback when he signed with Indiana on March 27th, 2003, way too late to be included in any video games. He scored 14 points and also had seven assists in his first game with the Pacers, leading to speculation that with fresh legs from resting all year, he might be a valuable contributor as Indiana made a title run; a bold prediction that didn’t pan out.
Much like Glen Rice, Kenny Anderson’s NBA career came to a close after a short run with the Los Angeles Clippers where he barely saw any court time. And, like Rice, injuries were responsible for cutting short his prime, or at least allowing him to stick around a little longer in a larger role. A former high school phenom whose pre-NBA hype made him the LeBron James of the 1980s, Anderson spent his last few seasons bouncing between teams, playing limited minutes even when he was a regular starter. He signed with the Atlanta Hawks in the 2004 offseason, and that’s where you’ll find him in the default rosters of games such as NBA Live 2005 and ESPN NBA 2K5.
Despite starting 20 of the 39 games he played for the Hawks, they waived him in February. Four days later, the Clippers claimed him off waivers, but he only played four games for them, averaging just 2 ppg and 1.3 apg in a career-low 6.5 mpg before they too cut him a month later. That was the end of his NBA career, but he did play one final year in Lithuania before calling it a day. None of the 2005 season games were released late enough to account for his Clippers stint, nor were official roster updates the norm at the time, so Anderson’s final NBA games aren’t represented on the virtual hardwood. Mind you, it’s not really a stint that’s worth remembering!
Even though the Clippers remain in the Lakers’ shadow, they’ve at least been able to produce some respectable seasons and exciting moments over the past decade. Back in the early to mid 2000s, they were still a perennial joke where most players didn’t want to land, and where careers went to die. The fact that three players on this list wrapped up their careers with unmemorable Clippers stints underscores that poor reputation! In any case, after being cut by the Houston Rockets in October 2005, four-time All-Star turned journeyman benchwarmer Vin Baker sat out most of the 2006 season before signing with the Clippers in February, and played eight games for them.
Obviously, that’s far too late for any of the 2006 season games to account for in their official rosters. On the bright side, at least we already had Vin Baker in the games for our own roster updates! Incidentally, Baker’s stint with the Clippers is memorable to me thanks to a game against the Mavericks on the last day of the 2006 regular season, which was televised. The big names either sat out or barely played, leading to some benchwarmers getting an extended run, and the only appearance of the year for one of the NLSC Forum’s memetic favourites, Pavel Podkolzin. Gems like that are why I used to love watching as many regular season games as I possibly could back then!
Compared to Michael Jordan’s return the previous year, Magic Johnson’s comeback during the 1996 season wasn’t as successful, and is seemingly sometimes forgotten. He did have his moments though, and it’s a shame that his return came about too late to be included in any basketball video games. Well…for the most part. You won’t find Magic Johnson in any 1996 season basketball games, or even NBA Full Court Press, which launched with final 1996 rosters owing to an early release date and the brief lockout that delayed the beginning of the offseason. With that being said, NBA Live 96 for PlayStation includes an implied representation of Magic Johnson’s comeback.
Just as the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns feature a Roster Player on their inactive lists representing Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley respectively, the Lakers also have such a stand-in. He’s a 6’11” power forward wearing #54, which is obviously inaccurate, but that’s how it works with Roster Players. More to the point, Magic did play power forward upon returning to the Lakers in 1996, and there’s no one else who played for the team that year that isn’t accounted for in NBA Live 96 PS1. As such, while Magic Johnson’s return stint with the Lakers in 1996 isn’t technically included in any official rosters by name, NBA Live 96 PS1 did offer a makeshift workaround.
Can you recall any other stints that never officially appeared in video games? 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.
The post The Friday Five: 5 Stints That Never Appeared in Games (Part 3) appeared first on NLSC.
