NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
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 revisiting NBA Live 10 once again, and placing the players who are still active in 2024 on their current teams.
Even though the game will soon turn fifteen, I still love firing up NBA Live 10. It’s not always my first choice as it was during my big retro kick with it back in 2021, but it remains a favourite. Indeed, I’ve enjoyed it far more in recent years than I did when it was new! My obsession with NBA Live 10 a few years back – and I use that word in a positive way – inspired several Wayback Wednesday features. From celebrating the retro jerseys to exploring some famous “What If” scenarios, I was indulging nostalgia on multiple levels; something that I always love to do with basketball video games.
In June 2021, I profiled the players in NBA Live 10 who were still active, taking screenshots of them on their contemporary teams. Three years later, some of those players have retired, while others are still in the NBA but have moved on to a new team. As I mentioned in my previous article, there’s not a lot to work with as far as creating a current roster – though there are intriguing possibilities with emulation and the PlayStation 3 version – but it’s still fun to bring the present day to an old favourite, if only in a limited way. So, which players in NBA Live 10 are still active as of 2024? Let’s take a look back…way back…
First of all, I need to make a correction. In my 2021 article, I counted 44 players in NBA Live 10 who were still active. In fact, there were 51, including some rather big omissions on my part! With that being said, the number has dropped to 28 in 2024. While that’s a small percentage of the league overall, it still represents impressive longevity. Notable names that have since left the NBA include Carmelo Anthony, Rajon Rondo, Andre Iguodala, Blake Griffin, and Dwight Howard (though he has been playing overseas). So, who’s still around? As with the previous list, a couple of names may be surprising, and a few of the stints certainly weren’t foreseen in 2010!
Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry, Chris Paul
I’m going to tip things off with the first player I covered in my 2021 article. It’s hardly surprising that Stephen Curry remains a Golden State Warrior, having added another ring to his collection in 2022. More surprising, however, is the fact that he was joined by Chris Paul this past season! It’s been odd and a little sad to see CP3 finally become a bench player after starting every single game in the NBA before his Warriors stint, but it’s not altogether shocking given the circumstances. As for Curry, while Golden State’s championship window may be closing, I hope he retires a Warrior. His legacy is secure, and it’s become very rare to see players play their entire career for one team.
Los Angeles Clippers: Russell Westbrook, James Harden
When I “updated” NBA Live 10 for 2021, James Harden had reunited with Kevin Durant on the Nets. Come 2024, he’s once again teammates with Russell Westbrook. It’s actually Harden and Westbrook’s second reunion, after the latter went to Houston in 2019. In a video game, the quartet of Harden, Westbrook, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard is formidable. In reality, there are more factors to consider, including age, injuries, chemistry, and a Dallas Mavericks team led by Luka Doncic. Both Harden and Westbrook have become rather nomadic in recent years, so while a 2024 season “update” for NBA Live 10 has them on the Clippers, 2025 could be a different story!
Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James
The 2024 Lakers have only one player who appeared in NBA Live 10 compared to four in 2021, and it’s a familiar face: LeBron James. Longevity has certainly become a major part of LeBron’s legacy, as he is now the all-time leader in scoring and the first player to reach 40,000 points. Los Angeles hasn’t been quite as successful after their 2020 championship, and the Denver Nuggets’ one-sided record against them in recent seasons arguably represents a passing of the torch, or perhaps a changing of the guard; whichever idiom works best for you. Notably, LeBron has also changed his number to 6 and back to 23 since I last represented the current NBA rosters in NBA Live 10.
Denver Nuggets: DeAndre Jordan
While the Lakers feature a player who was a star when NBA Live 10 was released and is still a star in 2024, the Nuggets’ retroactive representative is a player who was still finding his way in 2010, and peaked in the middle of the decade. Nevertheless, I enjoy the fact that DeAndre Jordan proves that a “traditional” centre can still find a place in the modern NBA, even if age and injuries make it a smaller role. On top of that, by virtue of retaining a place in the league as a solid backup to Nikola Jokic, DeAndre has become the only member of the Lob City Clippers’ core trio to win a ring. Both he and CP3 also outlasted Blake Griffin, who has now officially retired.
Miami Heat: Kevin Love, Patty Mills
Here’s a fun fact: until Miami’s first round loss to Boston this year, every time Kevin Love’s teams made the postseason, they reached the NBA Finals. Granted, he missed most of the 2015 Playoffs with a shoulder injury, and he wasn’t the first option on any of those squads, but it’s still interesting that in five out of six trips to the postseason, Love has had a chance at winning a ring! Although he’s accepted a smaller role these past few years, he’s still a solid contributor in Miami. They also picked up Patty Mills after he began the season in Atlanta, and as a fellow Australian, I’m glad to see him still in the NBA. On the other hand, his face in NBA Live 10 was utterly atrocious!
Chicago Bulls: DeMar DeRozan
It never feels right to claim that it’s hard being a Bulls fan when I grew up watching them in the 90s, as I experienced my favourite team dominating the league in a way that fans of most other clubs have never enjoyed. Still, it’s been frustrating to see so many rebuilding efforts come up short, whether it’s due to injuries or questionable moves. I do like the acquisition of DeMar DeRozan though, as he’s given it his all and had some fun clutch moments. A 14-year veteran, DeRozan has very quietly entered the top fifty in career points, and is poised to overtake some big names over the next couple of years. I honestly wouldn’t mind if that happens in a Chicago Bulls jersey.
Boston Celtics: Al Horford, Jrue Holiday
A two-time NCAA champion, Al Horford came within two wins of his first NBA title after returning to the Celtics in 2022. The Warriors prevailed that year, but Horford and Boston are still in the running for the 2024 crown. Aiding them in that effort is another player from NBA Live 10 who is still active as of 2024: Jrue Holiday, a two-time All-Star and key member the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2021 title team. They still have a ways to go, but I enjoy seeing veterans playing important roles on title contenders. Indeed, Horford is one of the oldest and longest-tenured players on the teams still in the 2024 Playoffs, along with the player that was drafted right after him back in 2007.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Mike Conley
That player of course was Mike Conley. Age and injuries have an unfortunate way of pushing veterans out of the NBA before their time, so I’m glad to see both Conley and Horford still active in 2024, fifteen years after the release of NBA Live 10. Conley was still with the Grizzlies then and had landed in Utah when I wrote my previous article in 2021, but is now in his first season with the Timberwolves. While Anthony Edwards is the star that may make Minnesota a force for years to come, it helps to have Conley’s veteran leadership at point guard. It’s great to see Conley and Horford proving that age is just a number, especially when I’m from the same generation!
Memphis Grizzlies: Derrick Rose
Even though it goes against the goal of rebuilding and focusing on the future, I’d love to see Derrick Rose have another run with the Bulls. I guess I’m just sentimental that way, and hey, it’s not as though they’ve positioned themselves to be a contender! Still, I do appreciate that signing with the Grizzlies saw Rose return to Memphis, where he played college ball. Since he was a promising sophomore in NBA Live 10, injuries have led to so many heartbreaking “What Ifs” with Derrick Rose, so it’s nice to see him still in the league as of 2024. He may not be around for much longer, and if he is looking to hang it up soon, then once again, I’m all for one last run with the Bulls.
Detroit Pistons: Taj Gibson
Speaking of former Bulls that I was sorry to see leave – thanks, GarPax! – Taj Gibson is still active. A rookie in NBA Live 10, he reunited with Tom Thibodeau when the Knicks signed him in December, though he finished 2024 with the Detroit Pistons. I wouldn’t be against the Bulls picking him up for one last run as a veteran backup, though as a player who entered the league as an older rookie fifteen years ago, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is the end of his NBA journey. If so, then hopefully it’s his decision. I strongly believe that there’s always a place for veteran mentors at the end of the bench, especially when they can still give you solid minutes here and there.
Milwaukee Bucks: Brook Lopez, Danilo Gallinari
While I’m expressing my appreciation for veterans, let’s talk about Brook Lopez, still starting at centre for the Bucks. Not only that, but he’s still playing 30 minutes a night and putting up respectable numbers, thanks to a skillset that he’s expanded to fit in with the three-point revolution (such as it is). Lopez is also one of the few players in NBA Live 10 who is not only still active as of 2024, but still playing for the same team as he was when I wrote my 2021 article. Meanwhile, Danilo Gallinari has missed two seasons with ACL injuries since NBA Live 10 came out, and played for three teams during 2024, with his Milwaukee stint proving to be rather unmemorable.
Houston Rockets: Jeff Green
After representing the Nets in my 2021 feature, journeyman Jeff Green moved on to the Nuggets the following season. His two years in Denver produced both his and the team’s first NBA championship, with Green making some big plays along the way. He then left for Houston this past offseason for a second stint with the Rockets. Not to belabour a point, and obviously everyone on this list boasts impressive longevity, but it’s great to see a player like Green still getting opportunities in his late 30s; especially because of the heart condition that cost him a year of his career back in 2012. Long-tenured role players deserve recognition for their longevity just as much as stars do.
Toronto Raptors: Garrett Temple
Let’s get to some players that I forgot in my previous article, beginning with Garrett Temple. I’m not sure how that happened as he was playing for my favourite team in 2021, but in any case, this one-time Chicago Bull is still active as of 2024. In fact, by joining the Raptors, he’s tied with Jim Jackson, Chucky Brown, and Joe Smith for the second-most NBA teams played for with 12 (Ish Smith now holds the record with 13). Like Wayne Ellington – a player with very similar career numbers who was also a rookie in NBA Live 10 – Temple has enjoyed a long career as a key bench player and occasional starter. At this point though, he’s outlasted Ellington by a couple of years.
Atlanta Hawks: Wesley Matthews
What do Wesley Matthews – who I also forgot in 2021 – and Steph Curry have in common? Well, they’re both second-generation players who were rookies in NBA Live 10, and are still active in 2024! They also surpassed their fathers as Steph has become an all-time great, and Matthews has played twice as many games as Wes Sr. (though the elder Matthews did win two rings as a bench player on the Showtime Lakers). That’s where the similarities end, but Matthews has still had a long and respectable career. It’s led him to a stint with the Hawks: the team his father had his longest and best tenure with, and actually played his final NBA game for in 1990.
Indiana Pacers: James Johnson
I wouldn’t say that I had high hopes for James Johnson when the Bulls drafted him in 2009, but I definitely had some hopes. Taj Gibson was the rookie in NBA Live 10 that panned out much better for Chicago, though like Gibson, Johnson is still active as of 2024. He’s another player that I somehow overlooked in my 2021 article, at which time he was with the Pelicans following a midseason trade. Johnson has spent the last two seasons in Indiana, though he’s been cut and re-signed a couple of times along the way. It’s kind of surprising that he’s stuck around this long, but as I said, veterans are too often shooed out of the NBA, so I respect his success in consistently finding gigs.
Philadelphia 76ers: Kyle Lowry, Nicolas Batum
Leaving Kyle Lowry off the previous list was one of my most egregious errors! He was in his final year with the Raptors back in 2021, having won a title with them in 2019. After two and a half years in Miami, he was traded to Charlotte in January this year, cut, and then signed by Philadelphia. Nicolas Batum – who debuted two years after Lowry and I did mention in 2021 – also arrived in Philly this year, in the trade that sent James Harden to the Clippers. Although both were fine players in their prime – Lowry is even a six-time All-Star – it’s hardly surprising that in 2024, they weren’t enough help for the 76ers and a hobbled Joel Embiid to advance past the first round.
Sacramento Kings: JaVale McGee
From a couple of immature but hardly unforgiveable slip-ups early in his career to his feud with Shaquille O’Neal, JaVale McGee has certainly garnered significant attention despite being a journeyman role player. Of course, that’s also thanks to his fantastic dunks – including a Guinness World Record-setting performance in the 2011 dunk contest – and his contributions to three championship teams. When I checked in on him in 2021, McGee was in his second run with the Nuggets. Following stints with the Mavericks and Suns, he spent his sixteenth NBA season with the Kings. Playing time is scarce for McGee nowadays, but he can still make his presence felt inside.
Phoenix Suns: Kevin Durant, Eric Gordon, Thaddeus Young
Unfortunately for Suns fans, despite looking promising on paper with a mixture of youth and veteran talent, it ended up being a disappointing year for the team. Three of the veterans on the 2024 Suns appeared way back in NBA Live 10: Kevin Durant, Eric Gordon, and Thaddeus Young. At the time, all three were still playing for the teams that drafted them, but each had moved on by 2016. Gordon has actually had a return stint with the Clippers since my 2021 article, while Young played for the Spurs and Raptors before landing in Phoenix this year. Durant requested a trade from the Nets in 2023, but so far, his tenure with the Suns definitely hasn’t lived up to the hype.
Other Players in NBA Live 10 Still Active in 2024
Although the Suns were the only team to finish the 2024 season with as many as three players who were in NBA Live 10, a couple of other teams did have a third player at some point during the season. Brook Lopez’s twin brother Robin joined him for a second stint in Milwaukee, but was traded to Sacramento and waived in February. Danny Green began the season with the 76ers, but was released in November after appearing in just two games. It didn’t feel right to leave them off this list – especially after missing some players in my 2021 article – but since they didn’t finish the year with those teams and are currently free agents, I decided that I’d list them separately.
2022 Returns Gone Again by 2024
To touch on an adjacent topic, three players from NBA Live 10 who were out of the league by 2021 and are no longer active in 2024 briefly returned during the 2022 season. The first is Joe Johnson, whose 10-day stint with the Celtics saw him return to the team that drafted him. Not only did it mark 1,669 days since his last NBA game, but there’s a record 19-year, 305-day gap between his Celtics stints! By hitting a shot, Johnson also joined Dirk Nowitzki as the only players to score a basket for the same team at the ages of 20 and 40. C.J. Miles also made his return playing for Boston in that same game, while Darren Collison unretired to play three games for the Lakers.
The Forgotten Seven
For accuracy and posterity, I should list the seven players that I previously forgot. As I’ve already mentioned, Kyle Lowry, James Johnson, Wesley Matthews, and Garrett Temple all played in the NBA during the 2024 season. The other three players that were left off the 2021 list were LaMarcus Aldridge, D.J. Augustin, and Serge Ibaka. Aldridge and Augustin both last played in 2022, with Aldridge briefly retiring in 2021 due to an irregular heartbeat, rejoining the Nets the following year, and then officially retiring for good in 2023. Augustin played for the Rockets and then the Lakers, while Ibaka played for the Clippers and Bucks before heading to Germany last September.
The End…Or Is It?
And there you have it! Hopefully, I haven’t left anyone out this time. Assuming that my double-checking has been meticulous enough, we’ve gone from 51 players from NBA Live 10 still being active in 2021 to 28 in 2024, with 26 of them on an NBA roster at the end of the season. Of the 23 players who left, seven played their final NBA game in 2021, though Marc Gasol continued to play in Spain until 2023. A further nine remained in the NBA through 2022, with Dwight Howard still playing overseas as of 2024. The final seven players were in the NBA as recently as 2023, with Rudy Gay actually being one of the Warriors’ final cuts before opening night.
As far as the 28 players from NBA Live 10 who are still in the NBA as of 2024, only Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Brook Lopez are playing for the same teams as they were in 2021. 16 of those players changed teams before or during the 2024 season; had he not been cut and played this year, Rudy Gay would’ve made it 17 as the 29th active player. With Udonis Haslem retiring as a member of the Heat in 2023, Steph Curry is the only player from NBA Live 10 that’s active in 2024 who can still possibly spend his entire career with one club. And of course, as we get deeper into the 2020s, we’re going to see more and more players who were in NBA Live 10 calling it a day.
After all, the game did come out almost fifteen years ago! It only takes around a third of that time for the league to see significant turnover. Still, it can be jarring when you go back and play an old favourite – especially one that holds up as well as NBA Live 10 – and see all those players, younger and frozen in time. As someone who has seen a few generations of players come and go, I understand the feelings of peculiarity and melancholy that so often accompany the dawning of a new era, leading to that often-uttered phrase: “it only seems like yesterday”. It’s been longer than that, but with 28 players in NBA Live 10 still active in 2024, we can virtually link past and present.
