Some HORRIBLE player models in ESPN NBA 2K5

[boxMAN29]

Here are some HORRIBLE player models I have noticed in ESPN NBA 2K5, The original Xbox version is shown but these look the same on PS2.
I've noticed several of these and am posting a few here, It's odd how some player models look excellent yet others look terrible. Making this post to show you.

Here are some of the worst models in 2K5 below.

Jim Jackson (HORRIBLE looking face, mouth looks nothing like his, his tattoos are completely gone, looks almost as bad as his model in the first NBA Courtside on N64, I mentioned the INCREDIBLY outdated player portrait of the Fox Sports college basketball analyst and former three J's member in another post that Sega and Visual Concepts apparently LOVED using when Sega had the series.)

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"The Prodigy" J.R. Smith (Face looks frightened, skin is too dark and his tattoos are also missing. Note: accessories have been added.)

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Vin Baker (0% accurate to the former alcoholic and Milwaukee Bucks great in the 90's.)

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"Smitty" Steve Smith (Does NOT look like the former Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawk, Portland Trail Blazer, San Antonio Spur, New Orleans Hornet and Charlotte Bobcat at all, looks straight up horrible.)

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Kareem Rush (I don't need to explain this one, it's pretty obvious.)

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Earl Boykins (Looks old lol)

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Again, it's funny how several of these player models look horrible on this game but others like Kobe and LeBron look amazing.

I apologize if this post is long but had to in order to share these.

Lemme know what you guys think.

[Andrew]

It is funny how the quality and accuracy of the faces can vary so much within the same game. That still happens today of course, but it's particularly noticeable in classics that had some incredible faces that were ahead of their time, right next to others that were barely better than generic placeholders.

[boxMAN29]

It is funny how the quality and accuracy of the faces can vary so much within the same game. That still happens today of course, but it's particularly noticeable in classics that had some incredible faces that were ahead of their time, right next to others that were barely better than generic placeholders.

Agreed, how could they forget J.J.'s tattoos?! None were offensive yet they're missing, including his signature tattoo on his right bicep, really VC? This is still my preferred 2004-05 NBA video game though and my favorite 2K. (I like the sim style gameplay better)

Never noticed it until weeks ago btw.

[Andrew]

I suppose they didn't always have the appropriate reference photos and they weren't doing face and body scans then, but then again, NBA Live 2005 PC modders found a way.

[boxMAN29]

I suppose they didn't always have the appropriate reference photos and they weren't doing face and body scans then, but then again, NBA Live 2005 PC modders found a way.

Yeah true but I'm not a fan of NBA Live 2005's gameplay, it's too arcade-ish for me, plus the net animations are static and look horrible, I'm more of a sim guy but I really enjoy the last gen versions of NBA Live 06 though as I grew up with it.

[Andrew]

NBA Live 06 PC is still my all-time favourite game. NBA Live 2005 definitely does need some slider tweaks out of the box, though I do enjoy the sim experience I can get with them. That being said, I'm still taking 06 (PC) given the choice.

[boxMAN29]

NBA Live 06 PC is still my all-time favourite game. NBA Live 2005 definitely does need some slider tweaks out of the box, though I do enjoy the sim experience I can get with them. That being said, I'm still taking 06 (PC) given the choice.

I take pre-XBOX 360 NBA Live 06 and NBA Live 2000 for the NBA Live series and for the NBA 2K series, I take ESPN NBA 2K5

[Andrew]

That's fair. The PC version of NBA Live 06 was identical to the PS2 version with the benefit of modding, so it was a hit around these parts. Definitely the heyday of NBA Live modding!

[boxMAN29]

Just captured another not so good ESPN NBA 2K5 player model, this is of Caron Butler, Head shape and some facial features are way off. Note: Made him wear the fictional "RETRO 1" Lakers road uniform bc why not? (2K4-2K8 has a TON of fake throwbacks, even my favorite team, the Atlanta Hawks have 2 fake throwback uniforms, one for the road side and the other for the home side, this uniform is indeed fake bc the Lakers never had pale red in their color scheme ever)

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[Andrew]

I'm going to have to go back and look through the selection of retros in those games. Looks like they take some liberties to say the least.

And yeah, that is not a good Caron Butler!

[boxMAN29]

Here are the fake Atlanta Hawks throwbacks from 2K4-2K8 (2K5 shown, these look sorta similar to the 1959-1964 St. Louis Hawks uniforms but I have confirmed they're not them bc the "HAWKS" wordmark is different, there is no blue lining on them and the number fonts between the road and home versions don't even match.)

[boxMAN29]

Discovered another one, former Euroleague player David Blu (formerly known as David Bluthenthal), He played a couple overseas NBA games in China with the Sacramento Kings, then decided to stick to overseas leagues, and was one of the best Euroleague shooters in Euroleague history, this doesn't look like him one bit, He's also incorrectly wearing #34 when he wore #3 in those overseas NBA games, he was on Wayback Wednesday on here as well, he's also in 2K6 and 2K7, even included an actual Media Day photo of him on the Kings below to show what he actually looked like when the game was released. He's also a 2K exclusive as I recently checked NBA Live 2005 the other day and he's not in that game.

(Note: He's on the Sacramento Kings by default but threw him on my favorite team, the Atlanta Hawks for this clip bc why not? Plus he looks amazing in my personal all time favorite Atlanta Hawks uniform)

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[Andrew]

Crazy how he made it into a couple of 2K games, without ever playing in the NBA. I enjoyed doing the research on him for the articles, though!

[boxMAN29]

Crazy how he made it into a couple of 2K games, without ever playing in the NBA. I enjoyed doing the research on him for the articles, though!

Agreed, ESPN NBA 2K5 is how I learned about him, it's a shame his model on 2K5, 2K6 and 2K7 looks nothing like him but he does look amazing on the Hawks though!

[boxMAN29]

Here's another to report, Sasha Pavlovic (went by Aleksandar Pavlovic at the time of the game's release), This is a really bad Sasha Pavlovic as it doesn't look like him one bit.

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[Andrew]

Oof, incredibly generic.

[boxMAN29]

Ik this post of mine is about 2K5 but I am here to report one of the horrible models made creepy in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions NBA 2K7, specifically the one of Jim Jackson, This is his ESPN NBA 2K5 model above but made more sinister and creepy and his tattoos are finally added but his signature J.J. tattoo is out of scale and has inaccuracies on it, now just look at that mouth and eyes, he looks like a character from a horror movie or creepypasta on this game! He is a free agent by default but changed Pavel Podkolzin's number to a different number so J.J. could have 24 in the sample below and signed him to the Dallas Mavericks, If you are wondering what his portrait is in this game, it's an unreleased Media Day 2004 Houston Rockets Media Day photo of him where he's making a serious looking straight face.

I like to call this rendition of Jim Jackson "Serial killer J.J." bc you can see why.

(Photo taken a few months back with my phone)

[Andrew]

Those angular faces circa NBA 2K7 certainly didn't help matters. Things started to turn around a bit in NBA 2K8.

[boxMAN29]

Those angular faces circa NBA 2K7 certainly didn't help matters. Things started to turn around a bit in NBA 2K8.

Yeah, plus it looks more creepy