Wayback Wednesday: EA Sports Cover Players in NBA Live 16
In this week's Wayback Wednesday, Andrew takes a look back at the EA Sports cover players that were still readily playable in NBA Live 16.
The post Wayback Wednesday: EA Sports Cover Players in NBA Live 16 appeared first on NLSC.
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 EA Sports cover players that can be found in NBA Live 16.
Did you know that every single NBA 2K cover player is available to play with in NBA 2K24? Between the cover players that are still active and the game’s array of classic and All-Time teams, they’re all accounted for. Obviously, we haven’t had a new NBA Live since 2018, but even then, NBA Live 19 didn’t include every cover player in the history of the series. On top of that, a couple of the cover players that were included in NBA Live 19 were nevertheless retired, and thus exclusive to the collection of Legends in Ultimate Team.
If we want to find the last NBA Live game that featured a healthy selection of players who appeared on the cover of EA Sports’ long-running basketball sim series, we must go back a few years to NBA Live 16. In fact, not only does NBA Live 16 feature a number of NBA Live cover players, but also players who graced the covers of EA Sports’ college basketball titles. And so, I thought it might be fun to spotlight those cover players who are readily accessible in NBA Live 16, wearing EA Sports jerseys in the game’s practice mode. Let’s take a look back…way back…
Turn of the Millennium Cover Players: Tim Duncan (NBA Live 2000 & NCAA March Madness 98) & Kevin Garnett (NBA Live 2001)
Let’s tip things off with the two earliest cover players that can be found in the default rosters of NBA Live 16. To that point, Tim Duncan is the only player in NBA Live 16 who appeared on the cover of an EA Sports game released in the 90s. In fact, Duncan graced the covers of two EA hoops titles that decade: NCAA March Madness 98, and then NBA Live 2000 (released in 1999). Kevin Garnett – often considered to be his biggest rival at power forward during their era – succeeded Duncan as the face of NBA Live 2001. Of course, while Duncan can claim the oldest game on this list, as a 1995 Draftee, KG is the longest-tenured former EA cover player in NBA Live 16.
The Mid-2000s Trio: Vince Carter (NBA Live 2004), Carmelo Anthony (NCAA March Madness 2004 & NBA Live 2005), & Dwyane Wade (NBA Live 06)
In my view, NBA Live 2004 through NBA Live 06 marked a second Golden Age for the series. After peaking with NBA Live 2000, the series went through a couple of rougher years as they switched to a new coding language, resulting in a few gameplay downgrades and lost features. Freestyle Control in NBA Live 2003 was revolutionary, but NBA Live 2004 was far more sim. NBA Live 2005 and NBA Live 06 built upon that, leading to three strong years for NBA Live. It’s only appropriate that their covers featured established All-Star Vince Carter, rising star Carmelo Anthony – a year after he was the face of March Madness 2004 – and 2006 Finals MVP Dwyane Wade.
The Final Seventh Gen Cover Players: Tony Parker (NBA Live 09) & Dwight Howard (NBA Live 10)
Before finally becoming the main cover player for NBA Live 09, Tony Parker had been the face of the French version the previous four years, twice sharing the cover with Boris Diaw; more on that in a moment. Even as a multi-time All-Star and Finals MVP in 2007, Parker was still seen as an unorthodox and less marketable choice of cover player, especially compared to the face of NBA 2K9, Kevin Garnett. Dwight Howard was a better choice for NBA Live 10, though NBA 2K10 outdid that pick with Kobe Bryant. Nevertheless, NBA Live 09 and especially NBA Live 10 were good releases in a tough era for NBA Live, before the total collapse occurred in 2010.
The International EA Sports Cover Players: Tony Parker (NBA Live 2005-08), Pau Gasol (NBA Live 2005-10), Dirk Nowitzki (NBA Live 07), Boris Diaw (NBA Live 07 & 08), Luol Deng (NBA Live 08-10), & Andrea Bargnani (NBA Live 08 & 09)
Once again, Tony Parker appeared on the French cover of NBA Live 2005 and 06, and shared the covers of NBA Live 07 and 08 with Boris Diaw. While Raul Lopez was the first Spanish edition cover player in NBA Live 2004, Pau Gasol took over that role from NBA Live 2005-10, and can still be found in the rosters of NBA Live 16. Other international cover players still active as of 2015-2016 include Luol Deng, who appeared on the UK cover of NBA Live 08-10, and Andrea Bargnani, the face of the Italian editions of NBA Live 08 and 09. As you might expect, Dirk Nowitzki was the lone German-exclusive NBA Live cover player, specifically for NBA Live 07.
The Only Face of NBA Elite: Kevin Durant (NCAA March Madness 08 & NBA Elite 11)
It stands as one of the biggest blunders in basketball gaming. Sadly, the success of NBA Live 10 didn’t convince EA Sports to scrap the new gameplay direction that had apparently been in the works for a couple of years, and to date, the series has never truly been able to recover from it. Kevin Durant is the face of that attempted revamp and rebrand, and a game that is one very expensive collectible! KD was also on the NCAA March Madness 08 cover, and was later the face of a far better game, namely NBA 2K15. He did suffer from NBA 2K’s answer to the Madden Curse though, with injuries limiting him to 27 games in 2015; still less of a disaster than NBA Elite 11!
The Cover Players of an Attempted Comeback: Kyrie Irving (NBA Live 14), Damian Lillard (NBA Live 15), Russell Westbrook (NBA Live 16), James Harden (NBA Live 18)
No surprises here, I’m sure! Although NBA 2K had changed things up with retired players on some of their covers – including Michael Jordan again with the Special Edition of NBA 2K16 – NBA Live stuck with active players. It was a wise choice too, given that Legends weren’t available outside of Ultimate Team. Russell Westbrook was of course the face of NBA Live 16, making it three straight years of point guards as cover players following Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard. After another hiatus, the series returned with NBA Live 18, featuring James Harden on the cover. As for the NBA Live 19 cover player…well, there’s a reason he’s not here with the others…
The Future Cover Player You Can’t Practice With
It’s easy to forget now that he’s a two-time scoring champion with a 70-point game, MVP trophy, and other accolades to his name, but Joel Embiid’s NBA career had a rocky start. Drafted third overall in 2014, the future NBA Live 19 cover player ended up missing the entirety of what should have been his rookie year, and then all of the 2016 season as well. As such, he’s on the inactive list for the Philadelphia 76ers in NBA Live 16. You can activate Embiid for Tip-Off games and in Dynasty mode, but due to a lack of roster customisation, he’s not available in practice mode. It’s a great example of how well-established staple features are a necessity in basketball games.
The EA Sports College Basketball Game Cover Players: Tim Duncan (NCAA March Madness 98), Drew Gooden (NCAA March Madness 2003), Raymond Felton (NCAA March Madness 06), Kevin Durant (NCAA March Madness 08), Kevin Love (NCAA Basketball 09), & Blake Griffin (NCAA Basketball 10)
I was originally just going to focus on former NBA Live cover players for this list. However, when I recalled that a few of those players had also appeared on the covers of the NCAA March Madness/Basketball series, I was interested to see just how many other examples I could find. After Tim Duncan (NCAA March Madness 98), the next oldest cover player that was still around in 2016 was Drew Gooden (2003). Raymond Felton (06) was also still active, as was the aforementioned Kevin Durant (08). Kevin Love and Blake Griffin, the cover players for EA Sports’ NCAA Basketball 09 and 10 respectively, round out the names that you can easily put on the floor in NBA Live 16.
The Forgotten EA Sports Cover Player: LeBron James (NBA Street Showdown)
While both Michael Jordan and LeBron James have been prominently featured as cover players for NBA 2K – multiple times, in fact – they also have a couple of forgotten covers for EA Sports titles. In addition to appearing on an insert on the NBA Live 2000 cover, MJ was the cover player for the Japanese versions of NBA Live 2002 and the original NBA Street (albeit as a render on the latter). As for LeBron, he was featured on the cover art of NBA Street Showdown; the PlayStation Portable version of NBA Street V3. Obviously, His Airness isn’t available in NBA Live 16, but LeBron is, placing him on this list of EA Sports cover players active in the game.
And that’s basically it, at least as far as players that are still readily playable in NBA Live 16! Without as much retro content, NBA Live hasn’t been able to celebrate NBA history, or even its own lineage, as easily as NBA 2K can. With that being said, NBA Live 16 still features several former EA Sports cover players – and a couple of future ones as well – including a few that enjoyed notably lengthy careers. Researching this list sent me down the rabbit hole of looking up players and covers, and in turn, setting up the scenarios to capture all of these screenshots. Once again, it demonstrates that the interactive almanac aspect of video games facilitates all kinds of nostalgic fun.
The post Wayback Wednesday: EA Sports Cover Players in NBA Live 16 appeared first on NLSC.