Last Active Players On NBA Jam TE Roster, Jason Kidd and Grant Hill, Retire From NBA - jyoung's Blog

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Last Active Players On NBA Jam TE Roster, Jason Kidd and Grant Hill, Retire From NBA Stuck

Posted on June 4, 2013 at 04:55 PM.

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NBA greats Grant Hill and Jason Kidd both retired this past week, and though the two legends never played together in real life, both were key members of the loaded "Rookies" team from Midway's 1993's arcade classic, NBA Jam Tournament Edition.

Hill's and Kidd's 19 NBA seasons far outlasted the careers of NBA Jam Tournament Edition's other Rookies, who now read like a list of washouts and journeymen:

Eric Mobley (1997)
Tony Dumas (1998)
Yinka Dare (1998)
Brooks Thompson (1998)
Sharone Wright (1998)
Khalid Reeves (1999)
Bill Curley (2001)
Eric Montross (2002)
Monty Williams (2003)
Glenn Robinson (2005)
Wesley Person (2005)
Jalen Rose (2007)
Aaron McKie (2007)
Eddie Jones (2008)
Donyell Marshall (2009)

Though the Rookies' highest-rated players, Glenn Robinson and Grant Hill, could not take the court at the same time, the squad's unmatched depth and versatility made them a valuable selection thanks to NBA Jam Tournament Edition's new injury system and between-quarters substitutions.

Along with adding more NBA players and secret characters to its roster, Midway's Tournament Edition also expanded the game's attribute system from four to eight rating categories and introduced a new mode of play featuring on-court powerups and hotspots.

Released in arcades at the end of 1993, NBA Jam Tournament Edition was later ported to every system possible from 1995 to 1996. While none of the home versions are arcade-perfect, the Atari Jaguar port holds a reputation for being the most accurate conversion, with the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation editions not far behind in quality.

Hill's and Kidd's retirement leaves Electronic Arts' NHL 94 as the only sports gaming classic from the 16-bit era whose roster still contains active players, as defenseman Roman Hamrl�k (New York Rangers) plus forwards Jarom�r J�gr (Boston Bruins) and Teemu Sel�nne (Anaheim Ducks) continue to play into their 40s.

Comments

# 1 jyoung @ Jun 4

Brodeur was still in the minor leagues at the time NHL 94 was released in March of 1993. He did not join the Devils full time until the 1993-1994 season, which was his first full year with the team.

Pronger, similarly, was still a minor leaguer until he joined the Whalers for the entire 1993-1994 season.

# 2 MrNFL_FanIQ @ Jun 4

"Tonight's matchup, OOOOOG! versus Hornets!"

# 3 sactown_13 @ Jun 5

ehhhh. i wouldnt put glenn robinson and jalen rose in the class of "washouts and journeymen"

# 4 Gramps91 @ Jun 5

Yea I'm with Sactown. Rose and Robinson had pretty great careers. Anyway, sad day indeed. All of the players I grew up watching are slowly retiring and really only a few remain.

# 5 Gramps91 @ Jun 5

Eddie Jones had a great career too. Just sayin'

# 6 juicey79 @ Jun 5

Jones, Robinson, and rose better than average careers

# 7 MajaFiggaz @ Jun 6

Jalen Rose and Glenn 'big dog' Robinson definitely weren't washouts or journeymen.

And the Temple U boys were pretty good as well. Eddie Jones was a 3-time all-star and elite defender making all defense teams. And Aaron McKie was a premier 6th man, winning the away in 2001.

Donyell also had a nice career. The other guys though, yeah they were scrubs