Wayback Wednesday: The Midseason Rosters of Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside
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 the midseason rosters in Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside.
Now that roster updates are common and viable on all platforms, we’re accustomed to midseason moves being officially represented in video games. In the 90s and into the early 2000s however, we generally had to make our own roster updates, even on PC. As such, there have been many brief stints and short-lived lineups that don’t appear in any official rosters due to occurring midseason, and being over by the time the next game is released. Outside of those rare official updates, the only way we’d see games reflect midseason rosters would be revised and re-released editions, and late launches.
That brings us to Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside, a Nintendo 64 exclusive released in 1998. Indeed, that is the key factor that sets it apart from other 1998 season titles such as NBA Live 98 and NBA Action 98/NBA Fastbreak ’98. Whereas those games were released in late 1997 ahead of or around the beginning of the season, NBA Courtside came out after the calendar rolled over to 1998, and thus features midseason rosters. To that end, it captures a unique snapshot of the 1998 season, with some stints and lineups that you won’t find in any other games. Let’s take a look back…way back…
Announced at the Nintendo Space World trade show in November 1997 – almost a month after the 1998 season had tipped off – Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside was released in North America on April 27th 1998 and worldwide on June 10th. To put this in perspective, the Playoffs were already underway when the game launched for gamers in the US and Canada, while the rest of the world got their hands on the game as the Chicago Bulls took a 3-1 lead over the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals! Indeed, considering that not everyone would’ve picked up NBA Courtside at launch, there’s a good chance that many people played it after the season ended and the lockout began.
The roster cut-off date in Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside is February 19th, 1998; the trade deadline. This allowed the game to include some major moves involving key players that had occurred by midseason, and in doing so, represent some brief stints, phantom stints, and short-lived lineups; very short-lived, in some cases! Before I get into that, I should note two prominent absences: Michael Jordan and Latrell Sprewell. As usual, MJ was replaced by a Roster Player as he wasn’t licensed to appear. Spree meanwhile was serving a suspension as a result of his infamous altercation with P.J. Carlesimo, leaving him out of a game featuring 12-man rosters with no inactive list.
With that out of the way, let’s get to some of the midseason stints that you will see in the rosters of Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside! While MJ’s absence was par for the course, the Bulls’ roster does feature an interesting name. I am of course referring to David Vaughn, in a short-lived stint that I’ve mentioned before. Vaughn played all of three games for the Bulls after being acquired for Jason Caffey at the deadline, and was then released on March 2nd. Although he missed out on his chance at a ring, he got a little revenge after signing with the Nets, picking up an impressive block on MJ. I enjoy seeing such obscure blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stints captured in video games!
Then, you’ve got a couple of phantom stints. As I noted when I looked back at his career with the Knicks and its representation on the virtual hardwood, Herb Williams was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Terry Cummings at the deadline. Unlike his single game stint with the Raptors a couple of years earlier, Herb was released just two days later without ever suiting up for the 76ers, and rejoined the Knicks. With NBA Courtside’s rosters locked as of February 19th though, that isn’t accounted for. Incidentally, this makes Williams and Cummings teammates who were once traded for each other, a brief pairing that made it into the default rosters of NBA Live 99.
Additionally, Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside’s midseason rosters place Yinka Dare on the Orlando Magic. As I noted when I covered Dare’s odd portrait in NBA Live 96 PC, memes about his skill level (or lack thereof) have felt awkward and even mean-spirited in the wake of his untimely passing at the age of 31 back in 2004. Still, with all due respect to him as a person and someone who did make it to the big time, he is infamously one of the worst players in league history! The Nets gave up on him in 1998, trading him to the Magic along with Kevin Edwards and David Benoit for Rony Seikaly and Brian Evans. He was released three days later, sealing this phantom stint.
So, let’s get to some tangible stints that are represented in the midseason rosters of Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside. The aforementioned Terry Cummings spent the rest of the 1998 season in New York, before moving on to Golden State following the lockout. He was long past his days as a dynamic scorer at the four spot – the result of age and a serious knee injury in 1992 – but he was still a capable veteran who chipped in points for a team that was without Patrick Ewing for most of the year. Anthony Bowie is also on the Knicks’ roster, after being signed in January. To that end, he’s one of the very few players in the game without a portrait, along with Roster Player.
I remember being surprised by the Brent Barry for Isaac Austin swap that the Clippers and Heat made at the deadline. Austin had been the league’s Most Improved Player in 1997, having returned after two years in Europe. He was putting up even better stats in 1998 and seemed to be a key piece of the Heat’s tough frontcourt rotation. Barry meanwhile was one of the Clippers’ promising young prospects, and finally getting consistent minutes. Austin finished the year strong as a starter for the Clippers, but Barry barely played and wasn’t on the Heat’s Playoff roster, making it a strange deal for Miami. Notably, he’s still wearing #31 instead of his new #17 in NBA Courtside.
Rookie Chauncey Billups – still a long way from becoming Mr. Big Shot – is on the Raptors after the Celtics traded him for veteran Kenny Anderson, who had refused to report to Toronto upon being dealt for Damon Stoudamire five days earlier. Those two trades resulted in a pair of players spending the remainder of the 1998 season with the Raptors before moving on: Billups, obviously, and Gary Trent. The fun part about Gary Trent being sent from Portland to Toronto at the deadline is that 23 years later, his son – Gary Trent Jr. – would likewise be traded to the Raptors midseason, and after two and a half seasons with the Trail Blazers. Like father, like son, indeed!
The Sprewell incident and a 1-13 start set the Warriors up for a gloomy 1998. Still, they had an interesting roster, owing to a couple of trades. Muggsy Bogues and Tony Delk came over from Charlotte in November, in exchange for B.J. Armstrong. Jim Jackson and Clarence Weatherspoon were acquired for Joe Smith and Brian Shaw just before the deadline, with their Warriors stints only lasting until the end of the season. As previously mentioned, they swapped David Vaughn for Jason Caffey. With Erick Dampier, Adonal Foyle, and Felton Spencer, they had a solid (if unspectacular) trio to pack the paint with. Donyell Marshall and Bimbo Coles rounded out their lineup.
Granted, they’re a far cry from a title contender, but they could’ve at least been in the Playoff picture if not for Spree’s suspension and the slow start. As it stands, they’re a quirky team to use in video games. Much like the Barry-Austin trade, I was surprised to see the Warriors give up on Joe Smith, the number one pick in 1995. In hindsight though, their struggles and the fact that he hadn’t blossomed into a star like Kevin Garnett likely made him expendable in the eyes of Warriors brass. It’s certainly a fun coincidence that both he and Jim Jackson ended up playing for 12 teams – formerly a record they shared with Chucky Brown – after being traded for each other in 1998.
Smith’s career stalled in Philadelphia, so it was no surprise that he opted to join the Timberwolves in the offseason. Shaw likewise only spent half a season with the 76ers, a forgotten stint that’s easily overshadowed by his more memorable tenures alongside Shaquille O’Neal on the Magic and Lakers; a pairing that led to the moniker of the “Shaw-Shaq Redemption” for their signature alley-oop play. In acquiring Joe Smith, the 76ers went from having the player picked third in 1995 to the one taken first, having traded Jerry Stackhouse to Detroit in December. That deal also landed them centre Theo Ratliff, who had been taken 18th overall by the Pistons in 1995.
To that end, I recall feeling like the league was really being shaken up that season. Naturally, with The Last Dance and impending breakup of the Chicago Bulls, change was in the air. However, it also felt like a lot of young players who were seemingly the future of their franchises were moving on as teams second-guessed their long-term plans. Stoudamire, Smith, Stackhouse, Barry, and Ratliff were all traded during the season, while the Denver Nuggets had sent Antonio McDyess to the Phoenix Suns before it tipped off. McDyess returned to the Nuggets in the offseason, while Ratliff briefly rejoined Detroit in 2008, and then coincidentally went back to Philadelphia.
Looking back on it now, it’s interesting to recall how so many players from the Class of 1995 had moved on by, or were traded during, the 1998 season. In addition to the above players, Rasheed Wallace, Shawn Respert, Ed O’Bannon, and Kurt Thomas were all traded within a couple of years of entering the league. Bryant Reeves is the only top ten pick from 1995 to play his entire career for one team! Other 1995 first rounders that moved on within their first three years included Michael Finley, Loren Meyer, Cherokee Parks, Eric Williams, Cory Alexander, Mario Bennett, George Zidek, Randolph Childress, and the aforementioned Vaughn, Trent, and Caffey.
Mind you, it was a similar story with earlier Draft classes as well, including the last few years leading up to 1995. The circumstances were somewhat different though, ranging from opportunities and more money in free agency (Shaq, Allan Houston) to beefs between teammates, or players and management (Jason Kidd, Chris Webber, Alonzo Mourning). With the Class of 1995 though, it does feel as though teams were changing their minds or giving up on players, as well as trading them for each other. And of course, trades from 1996 onwards are far more memorable to me personally, since I was now a fully-fledged hardcore hoop head keeping up with all of the news.
The inclusion of these previous season, offseason, and midseason moves in Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside takes me back when I see them, once again underscoring the interactive almanac aspect of basketball video games. The midseason moves are particularly interesting of course, as they’re easily forgotten; especially without much representation in official rosters. Getting back to some other examples of such rarities, Dennis Scott is on the Suns after the Mavericks traded him for Cedric Ceballos. As long-time fans may recall, it was a turbulent time in Scott’s career, which had seen an abrupt split from the Magic following an embarrassing meltdown at a youth camp.
These days, Bobby Hurley is the coach of Arizona State. As a high school player in the 80s however, he was one of the top prospects in the country, going on to play for Duke and winning back-to-back NCAA championships as a teammate of Grant Hill and Christian Laettner. He also had a cameo in Blue Chips, and was drafted seventh overall by the Sacramento Kings in 1993. Before his NBA career had a chance to take off though, Hurley was involved in a serious car accident in which he suffered life-threatening injuries. Although he returned to action, he mostly warmed the bench before being traded to Vancouver in 1998, where you’ll find him in NBA Courtside.
I’ve mostly focused on players who changed teams midseason in 1998, as those are the stints that wouldn’t have been included if Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside wasn’t released so late. Additionally, a number of those stints didn’t last beyond the season, though some of them are preserved in 1999 season games that were released before the lockout was lifted. They’re current in NBA Courtside though – or at least, accurate as of February 19th, 1998 – which makes them special. With that being said, there are some other notable stints and lineups that can be found in most 1998 season games, and to that point, they’re likewise present in the midseason rosters of NBA Courtside.
This includes the Suns’ point guard rotation of Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson, and Steve Nash; a trio that would’ve been amazing if they were all in their prime at that stage! Long-time Blazer Clifford Robinson joins them in Phoenix, one of several notable offseason moves involving long-tenured veterans. There’s Cleveland with Shawn Kemp and four notable rookies: Brevin Knight, Cedric Henderson, Derek Anderson, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Aussie Chris Anstey is a rookie in Dallas, in the game after missing the cut for NBA Live 98. It’s the last hurrah for Glen Rice’s Hornets, as well as the Hall of Fame trio of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley.
Chris Mullin is getting a chance to contend with the Indiana Pacers, a team that came very close to knocking out the Bulls before they could win number six. The Lakers are on the brink of transforming into a championship side, with cover player Kobe Bryant starting at point guard for branding reasons. The “team of the future” New Jersey Nets squad is represented here, along with the duo of Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury in Minnesota. Washington is newly rebranded as the Wizards. Many of the big names from the 90s are still on the teams that I generally associate them with. In short, the snapshot of the league seen in NBA Courtside is jam-packed with nostalgia for 1998.
Despite the nostalgia of its midseason rosters, I have mixed thoughts about Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside. Indeed, I’ve felt that way since the first time I played it. It’s one of the best basketball games on the Nintendo 64, but outside of NBA Hangtime, those consist of weak NBA Live ports, and Acclaim’s subpar NBA Jams. Hanging on the rim is fun and the gameplay has its moments, but it’s still rough compared to NBA Live 98 and other 1998 season titles. I can enjoy it, but it’s probably more famous for jumping on the Kobe bandwagon than being a great game, as well as the rumours that he had a hand in player ratings, hence why they’re hidden (not true as far as I know).
Still, while I don’t consider it to be the best 1998 season release or a game that I’ll revisit all that often, I do love firing up NBA Courtside and seeing those midseason rosters. It takes me back to not only following along with the 1998 season and hoping to see the Bulls win their sixth championship, but also keeping NBA Live 96 PC updated throughout the year. That’s what really got me involved in the community, creating my own site and releasing my rosters through it. It reminds me of checking out NBA.com and catching NBA Action every week to keep up with the news and results. It represents a pivotal point in a season that I’m extremely nostalgic for.
It’s therefore no surprise that I enjoy having that virtual representation of midseason 1998 rosters in Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside all these years later. Other games are more fun to go back and play in my opinion, but they’ll only have these brief stints and interesting lineups if we update them ourselves. Thanks to an uncommonly late release, NBA Courtside preserved some intriguing subplots in its midseason rosters. It may not be one of my all-time favourite basketball games, but I’ll always appreciate it for capturing such a specific moment in 1998 that its contemporaries couldn’t, and in turn, encouraging me to reflect on a memorable season and delve into NBA history.
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