Wayback Wednesday: Retired 90s Stars in NBA Live 06

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 taking a look back at some 90s stars who retired (or at least, left the NBA) in 2005, yet are still playable in NBA Live 06.

It’s wise not to jump to conclusions when we see coincidences that are in fact likely occurrences. Apophenia – the tendency to perceive patterns where none exist, also called patternicity – leads us to ascribe connections and deeper meaning to unrelated events. To that point, it’s hardly unusual for a player to retire (or perhaps bow out of the NBA to play overseas) around the same time as their generational peers. Sure, a few players in every generation will stick around much longer while others will have shorter careers, but most of them will retire concurrently or within a brief span.

With that in mind, there’s nothing particularly strange or suspicious about a group of players who entered the league in the late 80s to early 90s all hanging it up in the mid 2000s. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting that 2005 was the final season for a number of stars that I grew up watching in the 90s, and that they’re all available in NBA Live 06, either still on their final team or in the Free Agents Pool. If nothing else, it was a sign that their era and generation was now definitely drawing to a close, adding some wistful nostalgia to one of my favourite games. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Reggie Miller

It only makes sense to tip things off with the biggest name and most successful of the 90s stars that are still in the active rosters of NBA Live 06. Reggie Miller announced in February 2005 that the season would indeed be his last, after previously denying rumours of retirement. It certainly didn’t come as a surprise. The former three-point king was approaching 40 and in the 18th season of an accomplished NBA career filled with big scoring nights, clutch shots, and memorable Playoff performances, including an NBA Finals appearance in 2000. The Malice at the Palace hampering the Pacers’ ability to truly contend one last time was probably (and understandably) also a factor.

Still, the future Hall of Famer had a respectable final campaign, posting his highest scoring output in three years and outdueling Kobe Bryant in a game that I re-created in NBA 2K6. Even as Indiana fell to Detroit in the second round, just sixth months after their ugly brawl, Miller had one last memorable outing and exited to an ovation from fans and players on both teams. Although his career was over, he can be found on the Free Agents in NBA Live 06 PC, in addition to the 90s All-Stars’ roster. That was something to take care of in roster updates so that he didn’t extend his career on the virtual hardwood, but then again, I’m sure many gamers opted to keep him around.

Kenny Anderson

Over a decade before LeBron James captured the attention of the basketball world as a teenager, Kenny Anderson was a prodigy that had everyone talking. Scouted since the sixth grade and making headlines at 14, Anderson set records in high school and continued to impress in college, eventually being selected by the New Jersey Nets second overall in 1991. He began his pro career playing behind Mookie Blaylock and his second season was cut short by injury, but by his third year, he was an All-Star. It was the peak of his NBA career, but he was still a good player throughout the 90s, and remained a solid veteran point guard even as he slowed down in the early 2000s.

Anderson’s minutes sharply decreased after leaving the Celtics in 2002, and while injuries were a factor, it seemed that he was being rushed out of the league. His final NBA stints ended somewhat unceremoniously, as the Atlanta Hawks waived him in February 2005, leading to a brief run with the Los Angeles Clippers before they in turn waived him in March. Anderson played a year in Lithuania to officially end his pro career, but his final NBA season in 2005 allowed him to be included in NBA Live 06 as a free agent. As with the other players on this list, that gave us a veteran “name” to sign in Dynasty mode if we wished, and also facilitated some retro roster projects.

Derrick Coleman

There are several noteworthy “What Ifs” when it comes to players who were young stars back in the 90s, and Derrick Coleman is arguably one of the biggest. Like Kenny Anderson, his teammate in New Jersey, his talent was apparent even before he made it to the big time. As a big man who was a consistent 20 and 10 threat and could also handle the ball and shoot from the outside, his skill and versatility established him as a future star and potential all-time great. Injuries would ultimately take a toll on his career, but even when DC was healthy, there were often questions about his attitude. Coleman still enjoyed a fine career, but it’s fair to say that expectations were higher.

Nevertheless, despite the “What Ifs” as far as falling short of his full potential, he’s one of my favourite examples to illustrate how a diverse skillset for big men is not a recent development (and indeed, that phenomenon predates Derrick Coleman as well). In any case, like his former running mate in New Jersey, his career ended without fanfare when the Detroit Pistons released him in January 2005. To that point, it’s also often forgotten that he was one of the nine players suspended following the Malice at the Palace incident! It’s a little surprising that he’s in NBA Live 06 given the timing of his release, but I’m glad the developers took advantage of being able to include him.

Tom Gugliotta

Speaking of prime examples that bust the narrative of big men from the 90s lacking the skills of modern players, Tom Gugliotta can also be found in NBA Live 06 despite his career drawing to a close after the 2005 season. Of course, owing to the number of times he was traded – twice in the 1995 season alone – Googs’ career produced some fun video game trivia in general! His final stint with the Atlanta Hawks is actually represented in the default rosters of NBA Live 06 PC, having lasted through to the end of the 2005 season. As such, it’s not as surprising that he’s still available in NBA Live 06 compared to a couple of the other 90s stars, but it’s certainly good to see him.

Googs is also a great example of something we see with every generation: the very good player who’s all too often forgotten, especially when it comes time to dump on previous eras for supposedly being “weak”. Historical debates focus on the all-time greats, which is understandable, but that ignores the array of talent that made up their eras. I guarantee it won’t be long before the 2000s and 2010s are described as weak when the very good players of the era fade from memory, and in turn, the discourse. Learning about the NBA beyond the big names everyone knows is a fond memory of my early basketball fandom, which is why players like Googs are very nostalgic, too.

Christian Laettner

A teammate of Tom Gugliotta in Minnesota for about a year before being traded to Atlanta, the dislike for and jokes about Christian Laettner often overshadow his basketball prowess. To that point, not only was there an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary titled “I Hate Christian Laettner“, but in the spirit of Zoidberg from Futurama, the 1992 Dream Team is sometimes jokingly referred to as eleven of the NBA’s best players in the 90s, “and Christian Laettner”. Love him or hate him though, Laettner is widely considered to be one of the best collegiate players of all-time, leading the Duke Blue Devils to two titles while setting multiple NCAA tournament records.

Laettner’s NBA career wasn’t as successful, but he was still a fine player. He didn’t put up huge stats at the pro level and wasn’t as prolific of a three-point shooter as he had been in college, but he was a big man who could score in a variety of ways as well as rebound and pass, while playing respectable defense. He peaked in 1997, earning an All-Star nod. Laettner ended up bouncing around and was playing a much smaller role by the late 90s, even though he was still quite young. After playing with Michael Jordan in Washington, he ended his career in Miami in 2005, where you’ll find him in NBA Live 06 PC. He’s also on the Free Agents in the Xbox 360 version.

Steve Smith

Looking back at Steve Smith’s career stats, I was surprised to see that he didn’t have more 20+ ppg seasons. I suppose I wasn’t paying as much attention to his numbers as I was Michael Jordan and some of my other favourites, but as a talented scorer who could light up the defense from downtown, I had (clearly false) memories of Smitty being closer in points per game to Mitch Richmond, or his old teammate Glen Rice. He was a savvy scorer though, and someone you’d pick if you wanted to knock down threes in video games. That’s what led me to sign him as an insurance policy on the deep bench in my NBA Live 06 Bulls Dynasty, even after he’d retired in real life.

Smith’s final NBA season included a short tour of duty with the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, and a return to the Miami Heat where he’d begun his career. Although he mostly rode the pine – not unlike his role in my Dynasty game the following year – he was on the Playoff roster and appeared in three scoreless games. Unfortunately, like others on this list, once he was in his 30s and relegated to being a veteran backup, it was tough to escape that role. Even as Smith announced his retirement, he noted that he felt like he could still play. I’ll admit that shooing out veterans once they hit their early to mid 30s is something that bugs you a little more when you’re past that age!

Latrell Sprewell

Along with Reggie Miller, Latrell Sprewell had one of the best careers of all these 90s stars who departed the NBA in 2005, and are still available in NBA Live 06 PC. Like Reggie, he was a multi-time All-Star who was still a regular starter when his career ended. He’s also one of three players on this list to average double digits in scoring every year he played. Mind you, he also had one of the most acrimonious departures, and easily the biggest controversy. I mean, the Malice at the Palace wasn’t exactly a career highlight for Miller and Coleman, but that pales in comparison to a suspension for physically confronting and choking your coach, as Spree did way back in 1998!

Spree was clearly healthy and still had something left in the tank in 2005, but walked away when he didn’t receive a better offer than the three-year, $21 million extension that the Timberwolves had offered; the one that led to his infamous “I have a family to feed” quote. The gamble didn’t pay off, but in hindsight, Spree had a point about getting a fair slice of the pie as a veteran, especially when you consider the contracts that players are signing today. It’s also unfortunate that controversy overshadows his career. He was tremendously talented at both ends of the floor, and was an exciting player to watch. There’s a reason I signed him in my NBA Live 06 Bulls Dynasty!

Kevin Willis

Like a majority of the players on this list – indeed, Reggie Miller and possibly Latrell Sprewell are the only real exceptions – Kevin Willis is a great example of the kind of player that is too often forgotten: the very good, fringe All-Star who put up solid stats and had an impact for years in a bygone era. Willis did actually earn a single All-Star selection in 1992, a season in which he averaged 15.5 boards per game and battled Dennis Rodman for the rebounding crown (The Worm finished with 18.7 per game). He was also a mainstay on Dominique Wilkins’ best Atlanta Hawks teams before being traded twice in the span of two years, first to Miami and then to Golden State.

I tend to remember Willis as a member of the Heat thanks to NBA Jam Tournament Edition, as well as his time with the Houston Rockets from 1996-98, where he teamed up with Class of 1984 alumni Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley. In fact, Willis actually started ahead of Chuck and averaged more points in 1998! The 1999 lockout year was his last as a regular starter – now with Toronto – but Willis stuck around for a long time as a veteran backup, and his 2007 comeback with the Mavericks made him the oldest player to play more than two games. A return stint with the Hawks in 2005 also placed this temporarily-retired 90s star on Atlanta’s roster in NBA Live 06 PC.

Allan Houston

Injuries altered and prematurely ended the careers of several 90s stars, some of whom do appear in NBA Live 06 PC. Obviously I’ve already covered a couple of them, and Allan Houston is another unlucky member of that club. After a breakout year with the Pistons in 1996, Houston was one of the Knicks’ big offseason signings, supplanting John Starks as their starting shooting guard. He eventually became an All-Star with the Knicks in 2000 and 2001, although ironically, his next two seasons would be even better campaigns. Knee problems that caused him to miss 32 games in 2004 turned out to be worse than expected, and he played just 20 games in 2005, his last season.

Houston subsequently announced his retirement on October 17th 2005, long after NBA Live 06 PC had been released. As such, he’s still on the Knicks’ roster in that version. It wouldn’t be his final official appearance on the virtual hardwood during the 2000s though, as attempted comebacks resulted in his addition to NBA Live 09 in a roster update, and he remained in the Free Agents Pool in NBA Live 10, albeit with a generic face. Had he remained healthy, Houston could’ve probably played at least another four or five good years in the league. Even so, he deserves to be known for more than just giving a nickname to the amnesty clause that wasn’t even used on him!

Vlade Divac

Considering that Vlade Divac’s lone All-Star appearance came in 2001 and his stats weren’t eye-popping, it may seem like a stretch to include him on a list of 90s stars in NBA Live 06. He was among the best centres during the decade however, as he was quite capable of chipping in with a double-double in points and rebounds while ably defending the paint. He’s also not the only player with a single All-Star nod on this list, nor the only one whose selection actually came in the 2000s, so it wouldn’t be fair to leave him off. “Star” is a relative term, and as a borderline All-Star for most of his career, if nothing else, Vlade Divac is one of the most prominent pivots of the 90s.

With that being said, outside of being a familiar face back in a familiar place, his return to the Lakers for the 2005 season was unremarkable. Unenviably tasked with replacing a still-in-his-prime Shaquille O’Neal, Divac appeared in only 15 games, playing just 8.7 minutes per game due to back problems. It was an unfortunate end for a talented player who had been instrumental in the Sacramento Kings becoming a top team, and rival for the club that originally drafted him. Because he signed a two-year deal and didn’t officially retire until July 14th, Divac remains available in the Free Agents Pool in NBA Live 06 PC, alongside other 90s stars who left the NBA in 2005.

Rod Strickland

Notably, Rod Strickland is the only player on this list who was never named to an All-Star team. To that point though, along with Ron Harper and Derek Harper, Strickland is often named when recalling notable All-Star snubs throughout history, and as one of the best players to never play in the NBA’s midseason classic. One of the league’s best playmakers in the 90s, Rod Strickland averaged slightly below 9 assists per game from 1991 through 1999, leading the league in 1998. While not a strong three-point shooter, he could score in the midrange and in the paint, and also ranked among the leaders in steals while helming the point for the Spurs, Trail Blazers, and Wizards.

Strickland’s contact was bought out by the Wizards in 2001, leading to a brief return to the Blazers to finish out the year. He played sparingly, but had a throwback season in 2002 when he replaced Tim Hardaway as the Miami Heat’s starting point guard. It was his last year as a regular starter though, as Strickland spent the next few seasons in a bench role for the Timberwolves, Magic, Raptors, and Rockets. Orlando signed him in November 2003 and waived him in March, leading to him latching on with Toronto. He was then a midseason pickup for the Rockets in 2005, lasting a month. It was the end of his career, but it allowed him to be a free agent in NBA Live 06 PC.

Glenn Robinson

I tipped off this list of 90s stars that remain in the active rosters of NBA Live 06 with Reggie Miller because he had the best career, but I’m wrapping it up with Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson because his career and 2005 season ended on the best note. No, not in terms of his numbers – though, he did manage to be one of only three players on this list to average double digits in scoring every year of his career – but because he won a ring with the San Antonio Spurs. After sitting out most of the season, Robinson – still in his early 30s – joined the Spurs in April to provide a veteran scoring punch off the bench. His 90 points in nine games gave the Big Dog an average of exactly 10 ppg.

Robinson played sparingly in the postseason, and didn’t see any court time in the last four games of the Spurs’ seven-game clash with the Pistons in the NBA Finals. Still, he chipped in here and there, including a 16-point game against the Supersonics in the second round. He retired after the season due to nagging knee injuries, but is still on the Spurs’ roster in NBA Live 06 PC. No doubt ending his career on a championship team felt incredibly satisfying after enduring some tough seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, though after the arrival of Ray Allen he was part of a couple of Playoff teams at the turn of the millennium, earning him All-Star selections in both 2000 and 2001.

As a 90s kid who fell in love with basketball, these stars that were still present in NBA Live 06 after exiting the league in 2005 are extremely nostalgic names for me. Again, many of them are forgotten now, and that’s a shame. It feeds narratives about weak leagues and a lack of competition, as younger fans aren’t familiar with them beyond their statistics on Basketball Reference, and too many talking heads don’t mention them. I believe that in the years to come, the people pushing those narratives are going to be in for a very rude awakening when similar players from the 2000s and 2010s are likewise disrespected in an effort to prop up and promote the current NBA.

Perhaps when the younger generation are on the receiving end of all the “old head” snark, they’ll gain a new perspective of NBA history and nostalgia. To quote the lyrics of a song played at so many Elder Millennial graduations, it’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time! As a basketball and NBA fan for going on three decades, I’ve seen a few generations come and ago; the players who were once the promising stars of tomorrow becoming veterans and eventually the names of yesterday. A changing of the guard was in full swing by the mid 2000s, making games like NBA Live 06 not only a marker of a new era, but a wistfully nostalgic swansong for some 90s stars.

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