NBA Live 2002 (PS2) (Lakers vs Spurs) (January 19th 2002)
The rivalry between the Lakers and Spurs are hotter than ever, as the Lakers come to the Alamodome in downtown San Antonio for their first regular season matchup against the Spurs. During a pre-game interview Trent Grazer stated that normally he doesn't hold grudges, but the Lakers are like ticks biting his skin, that ever since the start of the season he marked Jan 19th on his calendar, and every night he would dream of Nolan taunting him while holding the Lakers 2000 and 2001 championship trophies in his hands. And in Nolan Owens' pre-game interview, he said that he always knew he would soar higher than Grazer. The fact that he won two championships back to back with Kobe and Shaq after his first two years in the NBA failing to win a championship with Karl Malone and John Stockton in the Utah Jazz is proof of that. Fun fact: The 2001-2002 season is the Spurs last season with the Alamodome as their home court. (Notably, this was the last time an NBA team's primary home venue was a non-NBA/non-basketball-specific arena, in this case an American football-specific stadium.) During the 2002-2003 season (NBA Live 2003, NBA 2K3), the Spurs will move to the SBC Center (Frost Bank Center). (Final scores IRL) Lakers won Lakers - 98 Spurs - 81 Los Angeles Lakers 2001-2002 Roster Lineup #34 Shaquille "Shaq Diesel" O'Neal (Cover athlete on the NBA Live 96 PS1 box, and NBA 2K6 and 2K7's game boxes and 2K18 Legend) ( • SHAQUILLE O'NEAL | 75 Stories 💎 ) #52 Samaki Walker (Waived by the Spurs on Jun 29th, signed free agent with Mitch Richmond on Jul 20th, father of Jabari Walker of the 2025-2026 Philadelphia 76ers) #17 Rick Fox (The actor) #8 Kobe Bryant (R.I.P. January 26th 2020) (Son of Joe "Jellybean" Bryant (R.I.P. July 15th 2024) of the 1976-1979 Philadelphia 76ers, the cover athlete on NBA Courtside 1&2 and NBA Courtside 2002, NBA 2K10, 2K17 Legend Edition, 2K21 Mamba Forever Edition, and 2K24) ( • KOBE BRYANT | 75 Stories 💎 ) #2 Derek Fisher (Brother of Duane Washington Sr. of the 1993 L.A. Clippers, uncle of Duane Washington Jr. of the 2022-2023 Phoenix Suns, former head coach of the WNBA's 2019-2022 L.A. Sparks) Bench #57 Nolan "No Man's Land" Owens (A fictional player I created from NBA Live 97 and father of Shep Owens of the 2022-2023 Miami Heat in my version of NBA 2K23's MyCareer story) #5 Robert "Big Shot Rob" Horry #23 Mitch Richmond (The cover athlete on NBA Live 97, released from the Wizards, signed free agent on Jul 20th with Samaki Walker) #3 Devean George #6 Jelani McCoy (Released into free agency from the Sonics, signed with the Lakers on Sept 21st) #10 Lindsey Hunter (Traded from the Bucks for Greg Foster on Jun 28th, currently a coach at Sparta (Michigan) High School) #35 Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen (Former player development coach of the 2013-2019 L.A. Lakers, current head coach at the University of California) #14 Stanislav Medvedenko Lakers head coach: Phil Jackson San Antonio Spurs 2001-2002 Roster Lineup #50 David "The Admiral" Robinson ( • 75 Stories | David Robinson ) #21 Tim Duncan (The cover athlete on NBA Live 2000, the 2001-2002 season MVP, 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer) ( • 75 Stories | Tim Duncan ) #15 Bruce Bowen (Signed free agent on Jul 31st) #8 Steve "Smitty" Smith (Traded from the Trail Blazers for Derek Anderson, Steve Kerr and a 2003 2nd Round pick (Andreas Glyniadakis) on Jul 25th, the cover athlete on NBA Basketball 2000, 2001-2002 Sportsmanship Award winner, cousin of Kay Felder of the 2017 Cleveland Cavs and 2018 Chicago Bulls and the commentator in NBA 2K22) #33 Antonio Daniels Bench #60 Trent "Major Razor" Grazer (A fictional player I created in NBA Live 96, and father of my NBA 2K23 MyCareer character Matthias "MP" Pallin of the 2022-2024 Denver Nuggets, 2024-2025 Chicago Bulls in NBA 2K25 and 2025-2026 Phoenix Suns in NBA 2K26) #31 Malik "Shaq of the NAC" Rose #30 Terry Porter #3 Stephen "Stack Jack" Jackson (Signed free agent on Aug 2nd with Charles Smith) #1 Jason Hart (Waived by the Bucks on Oct 29th with Aleksandar Radojevic, signed free agent on Dec 19th) #15 Amal McCaskill (Signed free agent on Aug 3rd with Cherokee Parks) #9 Tony Parker (1st Round 28th pick of the 2001 NBA Draft) (I created this player) #5 Charles Cornelius Smith (Signed free agent on Aug 2nd with Stephen Jackson) #2 Mark Bryant (Signed free agent on Aug 1st) #35 Danny Ferry (Son of Bob Ferry (R.I.P. Oct 27th 2021) of the 1961-1964 Detroit Pistons) #18 Cherokee Parks (Signed free agent on Aug 3rd with Amal McCaskill, injured for the entire season, released into free agency at an unspecified date) Spurs head coach: Gregg Popovich
