Talk about NBA Live 08 here.
Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:12 am
As explained in the description (and heavily implied in the name), the "roster only" version only includes the roster, none of the required art files. Therefore, if you haven't downloaded things like faces separately, you'll get missing texture errors.
The easiest solution would be to download the complete update, which includes all the art files that the roster requires.