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.

We’ve reached Part 4 in what has become a series about players who had stints that never had any official representation on the virtual hardwood. In other words, while those stints were tangible in real life and may have been included in some unofficial, community-made roster updates, they were never captured in the default rosters of any video games, or in any official roster updates they may have received. Needless to say, this was far more common in the days before developers actually released official roster updates, even for games that came out on PC!

For Part 4, I’m changing things up a little with the theme. Specifically, not only do these players have stints that don’t appear in any games, but the players themselves are also completely absent from games set in those seasons. Therefore, if we want to update the rosters and represent those stints – wherever possible – we need to create those players. That’s what I’ve done in order to provide screenshots for all of the players, with the exception of…well, I’ll get to that! There’s no mystery as to why these players are missing – none of them were signed when the rosters were being finalised – but nevertheless, it’s a shame that these stints never appeared in any games.

1. Manute Bol, Golden State Warriors (1995)

Although he played into the 90s, I think it’s fair to say that most fans and NBA history buffs associate Manute Bol with the 80s. That’s the decade in which he played most of his career games, posted his best numbers, and enjoyed the most “celebrity”, such as it was for a player who was mostly a reserve and never an All-Star. To that point, while he did actually play in the NBA until 1995, his final two seasons weren’t memorable. The Philadelphia 76ers released Bol in July 1993, leading him to sign with the Miami Heat in October. After being cut in January, he signed a 10-day contract with his old team – the Washington Bullets – and then had a 10-day stint with the 76ers in March.

Despite only playing 14 games and bouncing between three teams in 1994, Bol did actually make it into a video game that year, as NBA Showdown 94 – the updated Sega Genesis version of NBA Showdown, and precursor to NBA Live 95 – included his Miami Heat stint. However, his second run with the Golden State Warriors in the 1995 campaign doesn’t appear in any official video game rosters. Bol signed with the team in October and had some bright moments, even starting a couple of games. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in November though, and was cut in February, thus he doesn’t appear on the Warriors’ roster in the PC version of NBA Live 95.

2. Spud Webb, Orlando Magic (1998)

From one of the tallest players in league history to one of the shortest! Spud Webb defied the odds upon making it to the NBA, as he not only defeated famous teammate Dominique Wilkins to win the 1986 Slam Dunk Championship, but also became a starter in his fifth season. Webb posted solid numbers starting for the Hawks and then the Kings from 1990 to 1995, but was relegated to a bench role upon returning to Atlanta for the 1996 season. He was traded to Minnesota in the deal that brought Christian Laettner to the Hawks, giving him the opportunity to start 21 of the 26 games he played for the Timberwolves. Webb then spent the 1997 season in Italy.

Strangely, despite being healthy and still capable of playing at a high level, that year overseas seemingly caused him to lose all of his standing in the league. He signed a 10-day contract with the Orlando Magic on February 22nd 1998, played four games, and was then let go, ending his NBA career. That was too late to be included in any video games; even Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside, a title where a handful of brief stints and phantom stints can be found! The roster cut-off date was February 19th though, and while there probably would’ve been time to include him, it was highly unlikely given their 12-man rosters, and the fact that he was on a 10-day contract.

3. Andrew Gaze, Washington Bullets (1994)

As much as I admire everything that Andrew Gaze did for Australian basketball and his loyalty to the NBL, I wish that he’d had more of an opportunity to play in the NBA. Back in the 90s though, it was still difficult for foreign-born players to make an impact in the league unless they were standout college players who entered the Draft. Even then, there were no guarantees. Still, Gaze’s season with Seton Hall in 1989 and his play in Europe and for Australia in international competition grabbed attention, and he signed two ten-day contracts with the Washington Bullets in March 1994. Despite limited minutes, he had some respectable outings in his seven-game stint.

Unfortunately, the timing of his first foray into the NBA came too late to be included in any video games. Even if he’d stuck around to the end of the season, he’d be a long-shot to make the 12-man rosters that most games of the era featured. They also lacked the customisation options to put him or any new players into the roster; see if you can guess who I’m using to stand in for Andrew Gaze in the above screenshot! Gaze also played for the champion San Antonio Spurs in 1999, but a combination of injuries and depth on the wing saw him play very limited minutes. It did however get him into the official roster update for NBA Live 99 PC, and the default rosters of NBA Live 2000.

4. Shane Heal, San Antonio Spurs (2004)

Speaking of Aussies who made it to the NBA for a couple of stints years apart, Shane Heal signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1996 after impressing scouts with his performance in the Atlanta Olympics (and his willingness to stand up to Charles Barkley). He didn’t sign in time to be included in NBA Live 97, but he was added to NBA Full Court Press in its official roster update. He also appeared in NBA Live 98 PC, though by the time it was released he’d returned to Australia, unsatisfied with being stuck behind Stephon Marbury and Terry Porter at point guard. It wouldn’t be Heal’s last NBA stint as he followed in Gaze’s footsteps in 2003, and joined the Spurs.

This second NBA run wasn’t as successful for Heal, who had played 43 regular season games and two Playoff games for the Timberwolves in 1997. After the Spurs signed him on October 17th 2003, he only appeared in six games before he was cut a month later (though he did play 12 mpg compared to 5.5 mpg in Minnesota). The rosters for all of the 2004 season games were finalised before Heal joined San Antonio, so the stint didn’t result in any official video game appearances. While Andrew Gaze’s and Shane Heal’s NBA stints paled in comparison to their NBL careers, along with Luc Longley, they helped pave the way for Aussies like Andrew Bogut and Patty Mills.

5. Michael Jordan’s Second Run With The Bulls (1995-1998)

Alright, so this is a very well-known fact, and to that end, probably should’ve been one of the very first examples that I mentioned. But you know what? It is historically significant that the greatest and most famous basketball player of all-time, and the undisputed face of the NBA in the 90s, didn’t officially appear in any video games after returning to the league in 1995. Well, that’s not entirely true, I suppose. MJ is playable in the Space Jam video game, but to that point, that’s His Airness on the Tune Squad, not the Chicago Bulls! Obviously this return stint is represented in NBA 2K’s classic teams, but in contemporary games, he’s either absent or a Roster Player.

Again, it’s funny to think that the biggest name in basketball doesn’t appear in some classic releases, but that’s the way it goes when said player retains the rights to his famous likeness. It’s also noteworthy because Michael Jordan did appear in several NBA games in the early 90s before he withdrew from the licensing agreement, and remained in a couple of EA Sports games after being removed from other titles as he had a contract with them. We requested him in the Wishlist, and I’m sure that EA and other developers wanted to make it happen in the mid to late 90s, but a deal couldn’t be done. And so, the legendary duo of Roster Player and Scottie Pippen came to be!

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 4) appeared first on NLSC.