Would have been a good investment- 10 NBA stars in one set!

If they ever do NBA again i hope they give them good lego faces design instead of the creepy ones right now.
Also i hope they’ll give us like a hall of fame player roster in that case.

How are the figs in the resell btw? I still have some

I don't know my sports well enough, but this appears to be an All-Star style game, I just don't know if the teams are actually divided up accordingly to their respective conferences or quadrants or whatever they're even called in the NBA, although it does appear to be at least East (white) versus West (blue/purple).

@phi13 said:
"Lineups for this game:

EAST
Vince Carter (Toronto Raptors)
Allen Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers)
Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets)
Tracy McGrady (Orlando Magic)
Antoine Walker (Boston Celtics)

WEST
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Kevin Garnett (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Steve Nash (Dallas Mavericks)
Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)
Shaquille O'Neal (Los Angeles Lakers)

All except Nash and Nowitzki appeared in different-colored uniforms in the collector's set series.

Coincidentally, Nash and Nowitzki are the only players in this set who had not been starters in an all-star game by the time this was released (both were first-time all-stars in 2002 and neither started)."

Wish the NBA still did it like that. They stopped when the West became so dominant.

@StyleCounselor: Shaq was a '90s icon; the Orlando Magic drafted him in 1992.

@Brickalili: The first thing I thought of when StyleCounselor mentioned Shaq.

Should have been a Space Jam set.

@Rimefang said:
"Should have been a Space Jam set."

Agreed. Even Space Jam 2, if only to get more Looney Tunes minifigs.

That said... Yikes, these are some bad looking minifigs. What were the designers thinking back in 2003?

Dang I miss the sports line so much.

@StyleCounselor:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_positions

They still have centers, but I think it’s more likely the power forward, or maybe the small forward, who’s going to get crushed like a grape if Shaq tries to dunk.

@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"on the subject of sports, which unconventional sport would you like to see Lego adapt?"

Calvinball.

@PurpleDave said:
" @StyleCounselor:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_positions

They still have centers, but I think it’s more likely the power forward, or maybe the small forward, who’s going to get crushed like a grape if Shaq tries to dunk.

@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"on the subject of sports, which unconventional sport would you like to see Lego adapt?"

Calvinball."

Since Calvinball is taken, I'll say three-dimensional chess from Star Trek TOS. The rules are really easy to understand: they simply don't exist (nobody thought about it when the show was made)

@Murdoch17:
Joke’s on you! The first set of rules (there are at least 2-3 variants) were developed in 1976. You can find them in the internet, or you can download a Windows program or Android app and play it that way.

Also, that’s more a board game than a sport.

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @Rimefang said:
"Should have been a Space Jam set."

Agreed. Even Space Jam 2, if only to get more Looney Tunes minifigs.

That said... Yikes, these are some bad looking minifigs. What were the designers thinking back in 2003?"

To be fair this was really LEGO minifigure design with real skin tones at its infancy. The figures have issues, but they're trailblazers.

Would love to see Basketball or NBA sets return somehow. So much play potential here.

Got this set on extreme clearance at a closing Toys-R-Us back during my dark ages, just because I "used to be into Lego" and was all into the NBA of the time. Picked up a couple of the other players separately. Never built or used any of it, so glad to have these in pristine condition.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Murdoch17 :
Joke’s on you! The first set of rules (there are at least 2-3 variants) were developed in 1976. You can find them in the internet, or you can download a Windows program or Android app and play it that way.

Also, that’s more a board game than a sport."

Are you calling professional board games not a sport, and chess masters not athletes? What's next - Professional Video gamers aren't athletes either and video games are just that - games? Just because your using you brain more than body doesn't make you an less an athlete...

@StyleCounselor said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"Funny, I don't believe Shaq ever tried a blind, reverse alley-oop. I guarantee he never made one!"

Pity the poor forward that tried to stop him, though..."

Pity da foo'!

Oops, that was a different large 80s icon.

Back then, they were still called centers. That was before everyone began thinking they were great shooters = stretch 5."

Can't tell, it's possible he's blocking... pretty sure he did plenty of that!

@ToysFromTheAttic said:
"Yikes, these are some bad looking minifigs. What were the designers thinking back in 2003?"

I don't know... I recently looked over my collection and am amazed by the minifigs; they are weird, to be sure, but they are absolutely great in a self-contained, time-capsule sort of way.

@Murdoch17 said:
"Are you calling professional board games not a sport, and chess masters not athletes?"

Well, when you put it that way…yes. A thousand times, yes.

@oukexergon said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"Funny, I don't believe Shaq ever tried a blind, reverse alley-oop. I guarantee he never made one!"

Pity the poor forward that tried to stop him, though..."

Pity da foo'!

Oops, that was a different large 80s icon.

Back then, they were still called centers. That was before everyone began thinking they were great shooters = stretch 5."

Can't tell, it's possible he's blocking... pretty sure he did plenty of that!"

Shaq wasn't really a great shot blocker or any kind of defender, really.

Yes, the game still has the 5 position. However, because of strategic concerns (both in terms of the game, and the game-within-the-game, i.e., money), few players want to be considered to be a 'center.'

Shaq crushed centers almost as easily as any other.

Then again, his main problem was that he was too nice. If he was half as mean as Sir Charles, or 1/100th as mean as- God forbid!- Charles Oakley, Shaq would've had at least another 3 rings.

If Shaq was as mean as Charles Oakley, he would've won a ring every year until he was imprisoned for manslaughter. 'Cause people would've died.

I recently bought one of these, 2nd hand but in excellent condition!
Very happy with it - one of the jewels of my collection!
Minifigs are a bit weird looking, but very cool!
Kobe Bryant is worth a lot, even more since his sad passing :(

@StyleCounselor:
But the issue at hand, if he did try to dunk, he’d very likely land on whatever poor Forward was unlucky enough to be in his path. And by land on him, I mean land on every square inch of him.

I remember getting this set on clearance at Toy R Us for $20, it's a fun (not so) little set! And I'm not even an NBA fan.

I’m such a non-sports guy that I always imagine John Cena’s theme playing whenever I think of NBA. I’m dead serious.

Always nice to see a random set that I actually have.. it definitely works more funky then how the soccer sets go with the springs, but the set is quite large for the price too.

@Squantojones99:
Sure, but it's mostly just empty floor.