Monday Tip-Off: Getting Into Modes Late

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some reflections on getting into modes late.

As I noted at the beginning of November, there’s a ticking clock on NBA Live 19. With 2025 almost over, we’re getting inching closer and closer to time running out on the final NBA Live release to date. Once the servers are shut down at the end of January, it’ll be a wrap on all modes that require online connectivity. As it is, some of those modes are already inaccessible, or their matchmaking functionality has been disabled. NBA Live 19 Ultimate Team is still playable as of writing – at least on PlayStation 4 – but has lengthy load times as EA Sports gets ready to pull the plug.

For many basketball gamers, the impending shutdown of NBA Live 19’s servers and the lethargic menus in Ultimate Team won’t be a concern. Indeed, it may be a surprise that the game still has online support, limited and declining as it is. It’s something that I’m well aware of though, as I’ve been playing NBA Live 19 quite regularly in recent months, with a keen interest in Ultimate Team after completing The Streets World Tour. Needless to say, I won’t be able to complete everything in the mode before it’s gone forever. That likely would’ve been the case even if I had been playing LUT 19 since launch, but it’s another example of me being late to the party with game modes.

Unless you’re a habitual early adopter, or possess incredible prescience for the next big hit in every medium, at some point you’ve probably been late to jump on a trend, or get into a TV show or video game. It’s a bittersweet feeling whenever that happens. On one hand you haven’t missed out on the experience entirely, and you’ve hopefully still enjoyed something special, albeit briefly. To that point though, on the other hand there’s that wistful wish that you’d been on the ride from the beginning, or otherwise been able to enjoy it just a little bit longer. If only your timing had been better, or you’d been curious and open-minded enough to give it a proper chance much sooner.

I think back to when I discovered Freaks and Geeks in late 2000. It was being shown here in Australia late at night, so I serendipitously stumbled across it while staying up during the school holidays. Unsurprisingly, its brilliance hooked me immediately, and I watched through to the cliff-hanger finale of its first and only season. To that end, the ride was too short for everyone, no matter when they jumped on. There’s a reason it appears on so many lists of TV shows that viewers wish ran longer! I’ve had better luck getting into other series that were already a few years in, but I’ve been inspired to jump on the bandwagon early for new shows, such as The Crazy Ones and A-to-Z.

Sadly, neither of those shows made it past the first season, or the first half-season in the case of the latter. Nevertheless, I enjoyed taking a chance on being a fan from Day One. After all, I haven’t always had that opportunity. Due to being 16 years younger than my brother, I essentially grew up as an only child. In hindsight, not having any generational peers in the same house probably contributed to me being late to some of the fads we 90s kids enjoyed. As I’ve discussed before, the way that I was introduced to video games played a major role in developing a predisposition for retro gaming. I was a bit of an old soul when it came to some of the shows and music that I enjoyed.

Indeed, in some respects my basketball fandom is an example of being a latecomer. I knew about basketball from a young age and even had a NERF hoop – or a similar knock-off product, anyway – and had a casual interest in the sport. It wasn’t until the mid 90s that I really got hooked on hoops though, in no small part because of Michael Jordan’s comeback. While I eagerly read up on NBA history and watched any games, highlights, and documentaries that I could get my hands on, and was able to enjoy the second threepeat in its entirety, my fandom doesn’t go back as far as other hoop heads my age. It doesn’t make me any less of a fan, but I wish that I’d been watching earlier!

The point is that when it comes to my hobbies and interests, I haven’t always been as quick to adopt them as my peers. I wasn’t a Day One fan of many of my favourite TV shows. And yes, when it comes to basketball video games, there are modes that I’ve been late getting into. Obviously, that isn’t always a problem. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t pick up NBA 2K9 and dive into an Association back in 2008, because Dee and I are having a blast playing one co-op over Parsec in 2025. Likewise, I can jump into any offline MyCAREER, my game in NBA 2K14 being a prime example. In short, there are modes across several games that I can get into and enjoy all these years later.

Of course, that isn’t the case with any modes that involve live service content, and/or an online multiplayer component. To state the obvious, they require online support which isn’t indefinite, so at some point they’ll be unavailable. Mind you, even before it’s too late to get into those modes at all, it generally doesn’t pay to be a latecomer. Jumping into MyCAREER’s connected modes when you’re still underpowered and everyone else has been putting in time, effort, and possibly money to upgrade their MyPLAYERs, is a miserable experience. Similarly, your squad in the card collecting modes will be at a marked disadvantage if you’re late getting started on that journey.

This is mitigated somewhat if you’re not interested in the competitive scene. Playing against the CPU allows you to go at your own pace, so there’s less frustration as you gradually level up an avatar or build a card collection. You don’t necessarily need to get into those modes at launch to have fun with them, but if nothing else, whenever you’re late, you’re obviously not going to have as much time to enjoy them. There’s a much higher chance of ending up with unfinished business when you’re late getting into modes that run on live service content, or just require online support. It’s tough to see modes disappear forever long before you’re tired of them, because you were late.

That brings us to Ultimate Team in NBA Live 18, and more recently, NBA Live 19. After I soured on NBA 2K18 and turned to NBA Live 18 for my basketball gaming fix, I opted for Ultimate Team. I wasn’t keen on another career game and I’d enjoyed my time with Ultimate Team in NBA Live 15, so it seemed like the sensible choice. It was also the only way to play with Legends in NBA Live 18, which appealed to my nostalgia and increasing frustration with the modern NBA. Between my own efforts and a kind donation of coins from a fellow Ultimate Team fan, I assembled a squad of some of my favourite 90s All-Stars. It was a lot more fun than listening to B-Fresh!

I moved on from NBA Live 18 when NBA 2K19 came out and I enjoyed it far more than its predecessor, but it wouldn’t be the end of my journey with the game. As I grew weary of NBA 2K in recent years and drifted towards retro basketball gaming, I began to revisit old favourites. A co-op session of NBA Live 18 with Dee reminded me of how much I’d enjoyed that game. It led to me dusting it off solo to play the Pro-Am Tour in The Streets, but once I was more or less done with that, I was back to Ultimate Team. As long as the servers remained up, I could return to my squad of 90s All-Stars and take on an assortment of Challenges, creating highlights along the way.

Unfortunately, I missed the announcement that NBA Live 18’s servers would be shut down, and so the end of online support – along with access to Ultimate Team – caught me by surprise. While I’d still had a blast spending hours with the mode in 2018 and during my NBA Live 18 kick in 2024, there was obviously a lot of time in between where I could’ve been enjoying it, at least periodically. Instead, I got back into the mode a bit too late, when it could’ve been part of an earlier retro kick. Although I was highly unlikely to finish all of the Challenges anyway, it still didn’t feel like a proper farewell. Again, it never does when modes disappear before your enthusiasm fades.

Entering 2025, I had a hunch that the NBA Live 19 server shutdown was looming. At the time, it didn’t bother me too much. I’d been disappointed by the game, so while a server shutdown was unfortunate, I didn’t expect to be affected by it. Famous last words! I revisited NBA Live 19 for some screenshots and article research, and the next thing I knew, I was enjoying the game more than I ever had before. Naturally that included diving into Ultimate Team, and patiently acquiring some Legends; not quite as an impressive array of top-rated cards as in NBA Live 18, but a fun selection of nostalgic favourites and other all-time greats. It’s kept me hooked on the game.

And of course, it’s given me something to lose, which will happen on January 30th next year. On the bright side, being aware of the shutdown date has given me time to prepare and wrap up my business with Ultimate Team. Once again, I was unlikely to fully complete the Fantasy Challenges series, even if the servers stayed up another couple of years. Still, I can’t help thinking: I could’ve been enjoying this long before now! If only I’d given NBA Live 19 another chance a bit sooner. Even giving it a look after the NBA Live 18 servers were shut down would’ve given me over a full year to get a bit more done, collect a few more Legends, and make some more memories.

Then again, at least I’ve been able to enjoy a few months with NBA Live 18 and NBA Live 19 Ultimate Team in heavy rotation. There are modes that I’ve missed out on entirely because I left it too late. I didn’t play a single game of adidas LIVE Run in NBA Live 10, which certainly made my Wayback Wednesday feature on it rather wistful! Worse yet, I completely neglected the Summer Circuit in NBA Live 16’s LIVE Pro-Am, despite getting an early look at the mode at my last ever community event and really enjoying it. As such, I barely have any screenshots from NBA Live 16’s online team play modes – to say nothing of fond memories – and now it’s too late.

Granted, it didn’t help that NBA 2K16 outshone NBA Live 16 in terms of both its gameplay and 2K Pro-Am. Even then, NBA 2K16’s 2K Pro-Am is on the list of modes that I got into fairly late in the release cycle, and didn’t return to because I’d moved on. To that end of course, it led directly into playing 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K17, which is one of my all-time favourite basketball gaming experiences. If there’s a silver lining to getting into modes late – beyond learning not to do it again, though obviously that lesson doesn’t always sink in – it’s that it can encourage you continue the journey in a new game. In the best case scenario, a late start is a good warm-up.

Regrettably, that won’t be the case with NBA Live 19 Ultimate Team. With no new NBA Live on the horizon, nor any word of a change in plans, the next few weeks with Ultimate Team will be the last ones I play. As I said, at least this time I know that the shutdown is coming! I can make the most of it in the meantime, as well as capture any media that I think I may need down the road. It’s something you need to think about as a content creator. If there’s any chance that you’ll someday talk about modes or features that will become inaccessible once online support ends, get into them before it’s too late. Referring back to adidas LIVE Run, I haven’t always had that foresight.

With that being said, it’s much better to get into modes late than fail to give them a chance while you can. You’ll still have to bid them a wistful goodbye, and jumping on the bandwagon as the ride is approaching its final stop is undoubtedly bittersweet. It’s a lesson not to drag my feet, but any regret I have for doing so is counterbalanced by the enjoyment that I’ve found. Yes, I was late to the party with NBA Live 19 Ultimate Team and other modes, but they’ve been a blast throughout my time with them. If I may clumsily borrow from (and shamelessly butcher) a famous poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson here, it’s better to have played and lost than never to have played at all!

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