Today the U&M squad takes a trip back to 1993 when the arcade release of NBA Jam took the gaming and basketball world by storm. By 1995 the game had been released on all game consoles and an era of epic dunks, alley oops, Anthony Mason-esque shoves (that are legal!) and kids yelling “He’s on fiiiiiiiiiiire!” after hitting shots at the park had it’s genesis.
We are using all the same rules of the game, except the roster of two could be built by any player currently in the NBA — as long as they aren’t older than 22. We had some fun with the ratings and each player even got their own emoji as one of them!
Check out our combos and decide for yourself who would win — or have the best dunks, however you want to quantify your winner.
Special shout out to Matt D’Anna (@hoop_nerd) for hooking up the graphics!
Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon
Chris Reichert (@Chris_Reichert): Honestly, do I need to explain these selections? Zach “I float through the air like Mary Poppins” LaVine and Aaron “I literally took a seat in the air” Gordon were obvious choices for an NBA Jam themed duo.
Fine, fine. Do you honestly sit down and play video games so that you can do things you could do in real life? Any of us could go out to the court and knock down some open 3-pointers, but NONE of us are flying through the air with the combination of grace and primal power that my duo bring to the table. So, we don’t have “shooters”, who cares! The game is called NBA JAM and we got all the jam a team needs.
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Full disclosure, the game had to be altered to suit the soaring abilities of these two so the others are at a massive disadvantage. The array of double and triple alley oops these two could show off would be monumental to the point that they would become the “you can’t use that team” team in the game. It’s that serious.
LaVine finally gets to play point guard and Gordon gets to roam the paint waiting for his opportunity to hammer down another thunderous dunk on anyone who dares stand in his way. If we get down in the game and need to shoot our way back into it, we get three stops, shoving and blocking our way into extra possessions and converting for easy dunks, so that LaVine can realize his true calling as a video game 3-point specialist.
Gordon easily becomes the modern day Shawn Kemp just embarrassing anyone and everyone including KAT, Porzingis and yes even Antetokounmpo. He clearly followed Kevin Durant’s footsteps as part of the “if you can’t beat em, join em” club and the result will be world domination.
Buddy Hield and Karl-Anthony Towns
Andrew Ford (@AndrewFord22): I picked Buddy Hield and Karl-Anthony Towns because they could dominate together either in real life or if they were actually inserted into NBA Jam. On an actual court, the duo would crush other pairings’ souls defensively. Both are quick enough to guard on the perimeter, and they can smother their opponents with overwhelming physicality. It would be tough to find a weakness to attack between the pairing. If someone does happen to make it all the way to the rim, KAT is there to disrupt the shot and crush all hopes and dreams.
Offensively, Hield and Towns would wreak havoc in the pick-and-roll. Think about both of these guys sprinting to the rim at full speed. I just had to lie down and do breathing exercises to calm myself down after thinking about how hazardous that would be to opposing defenders. Both are capable finishers at the rim, and there’s not another tandem in this group that is both big and quick enough to guard this combo consistently well.
Most importantly, think about how good this pairing would be in NBA Jam. From beyond the arc, Hield shot 65% from the left corner and 46% from the right corner in his final season at Oklahoma. All I would have to do is sprint to either corner with Hield and drill threes all day long. Some of these tandems might not have enough shooting to erase the deficits I’m about to create by shooting mostly threes all game.
When my opponents have the ball, I’m gambling that I can utilize the physicality of Hield and Towns to push them over and take the cookie nine times out of ten. All these wiry guys are going to get sick of picking themselves up on the floor, but their complaints won’t matter at that point because the game will be over quicker than you can say “oh look Buddy Hield’s on fire again.”
D’Angelo Russell and Kristaps Porzingis
Jonah Jordan (@_JonahJordan): Imagine a world where D’Angelo Russell plays without the burden of running an offense where he can utilize his playmaking ability to make amazing things happen. Imagine a world where Russell doesn’t walk back to a huddle with Nick Young (he lost the Swaggy P moniker as he stopped being cool long ago) and Byron Scott. Imagine pairing him with a 7-footer who runs the floor like a deer, blocks shots, dunks on anyone and everyone, can step out to three-point range and can rock cornrows. This is the world I’ve created for Russell by making Kristaps Porzingis his teammate.
Having a good ball handler is important in NBA Jam, way more important than having size. You can push Russell around, but he won’t lose the ball like some other former Oklahoma wing who can barely put the ball on the floor. Russell may not be the best defender in the world, but he has quick hands. He can poke the ball away from someone like Buddy Hield or Devin Booker. When Russell broke down on defense the Zinger would be able to help because literally none of the other bigs in this besides KAT can hit a jumpshot. This team is going to live in transition and on alley-oops, whether it be off blocks, steals or long rebounds.
In the half-court is where Russell’s three-point shooting, 35.1 percent last season, and ‘Staps’ knack for putback dunks will come into play. D-Loading will get hot from three or Porzingis will jam home the misses. They could be a good tandem in the pick and roll or pick and pop, either way Russell will be able to get the ball to the Latvian forward in spots where he can be successful. This team is young, both are 20, and has seen little time in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be the most fun team out there.
Ben Simmons and Devin Booker
Chris Stone (@cstonehoops): It’s always nice to find mismatches to exploit on the basketball court and the Sixers’ Ben Simmons presents plenty of opportunities. At 6-10, Simmons is a capable ballhandler and excellent passer. He should be able to control the offense by attacking the other big men in the competition off the dribble. If smaller defenders get switched onto him, he’s a solid scorer in the post where he can use his size. One additional plus: he is also big enough to withstand those brutal two-handed shoves that often lead to fast break points.
When Simmons breaks down his defender, he’ll have one of the best young shooters in the game to find on the perimeter. Phoenix’s Devin Booker wasn’t the most efficient scorer as a rookie, but he showed promise as a three-point shooter (despite making only 34.3 percent of his triples) and at the rim where he converted 64.1 percent of his attempts.
The biggest question for Booker and Simmons may be on the defensive end where they don’t bring the type of rim protection that comes with guys like Towns or Porzingis, but the two youngsters should be able to score enough that their defense won’t be much of a concern.
Andrew Wiggins and Giannis Antetokounmpo
Trevor Magnotti (@Illegalscreens): The NBA is very three-point forward at this point, and the two players I’ve picked aren’t quite at the level of some of the other players selected for this exercise. But this is the NBA Jam world, and while threes are important, what are we really playing for? Dunks. Lots and lots of dunks.
Wiggins and Antetokounmpo aren’t going to light you up from outside. In fact, they combined to shoot 28.4 percent on 299 attempts this year, which is not great. But when it comes to the paint on both ends, I can’t think of a better pair to work with. Offensively, you’re getting two of the better in-game dunkers among young NBA players, and both have excellent body control in transition, which will allow them to get in, through, and around NBA Jam defenders. Both have developing handles, and I’d trust both to attack with the ball in their hands against pressure.
The two also have complementary skill sets. While there won’t be any drive-and-kick action, Antetokounmpo’s skills as a passer will help complete the good looks that Wiggins will provide on backdoor cuts. Wiggins in turn will help bail out the offense if you need a quick bucket, as he’s the better isolation option and can create his own buckets if the two-man game doesn’t quite work out.
More importantly, this pairing will be very, very difficult to score on. Any combination they face is staring down a 6’8” guy with a 7’0” wingspan, standing next to a 6’9” guy with a 7’3” wingspan. Neither is the most technically sound defender at this point, but positioning isn’t a big deal in NBA Jam. They can both contest anyone’s perimeter shot, have the length to bother anyone at the rim, and can comfortably switch anyone who tries to get cute with pick-and-rolls. Wiggins will supply the on-ball pressure, and Giannis will add in his 20 percent defensive rebound rate and 1.4 blocks per game to supplement in help defense.
The gameplan for Giannis and Andrew is simple: ignore threes, force turnovers, pressure everyone comfortably, and dunk the ever-living life out of the ball. You won’t guard them from beyond 20 feet, and that’ll a mistake, because that affords them space to get a full head of steam to leap over or through you.