by RayRay_953 on Sat Apr 09, 2022 6:05 am
I think it's interesting to examine the unlicensed players in the recent basketball installments. There are many other instances that you can find related to the five examples that you mentioned.
As you mentioned, Jordan's jersey can't be found in the United Center in the NBA LIVE installments, but I believe a banner and jersey for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (another player LIVE doesn't have the rights to use) can be seen in the later Live games (I've seen it in the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Live 16 for sure). Speaking of Live, they can't include the likeness or anything related to these players, but Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are explicitly name-dropped in The One during your rookie season in Live 18. There's also a commentary line in 18 that rarely plays after a five-second back-in foul is called, with Jeff Van Gundy calling it "The old Mark Jackson-Charles Barkley rule."
Another example of unlicensed content squeaking its way into basketball games is NBA 2K11. When reading the Jordan Challenge description for the 1991 Finals series against the Lakers, it talks about Jordan's double-clutch layup against A.C. Green (explicitly mentioned by name), with Green not even being featured in the game. In the song, Better Than You, the old Raptors arena, The Skydome is mentioned in the lyrics. Toronto had already long since moved to the Air Canada Centre, and none of the classic teams other than the late '90s Bulls and 1990 Pistons used their authentic arena names.