Nintendo GameCube

Why play basketball around the world when you can play it virtually.

With the COVID-19 lockdown in effect all around the world, I have officially gone into basketball withdrawal. With no basketball to play or even watch, I decided to go down memory lane and whip out the ole Nintendo GameCube from the 18th century to get my basketball fix in.

Some of you may ask, 'don't you have a newer Xbox or Playstation?' Well without getting into much detail...I'd like to think that I grew up, and school, jobs and girls (haha - my editors) occupied so much of my daily life, there was no more time for games. I believe this was my first time bringing out the Gamecube since 2007.

Anybody remember what RCA connectors were? I had 3 scary moments where I thought I wasn't going to be able to play my Gamecube on my 60 in TV (flexing...but not really because I bought this $150 no name brand TV from Walmart during Black Friday...). Technology moves so fast and I was afraid (moment #1) that my TV wouldn't be able to support these types of plugs but in a sigh of relief, I looked back and found the compatible inputs. After identifying where to plug it in, it becomes a math problem of permutations (moment #2) to figure out where to plug what in because there were no color coded inputs. If you learn anything today - RCA plugs for composite video (yellow) and stereo audio (white and red)

After plugging everything in and locating NBA Live 2005, which I have to say is pretty cool finding Carmelo Anthony on the cover of NBA Live 2005 as he's still in the NBA today, I was ready to roll!

I turned on the TV, and then turned on the Gamecube...but nothing happened. I switched my TV sources from HDMI 1 to HDMI 2 and then HDMI 3 probably over 100 times but still couldn't get a signal (moment #3). I'm not sure if you've realized it yet but it was one of those brain fart moments where you've become so accustomed to switching between only the HDMI sources because that's all you've been doing for the last 10 years of your life, that you didn't even know or remember to check out the other input options. I had to flip to the never used before AV source option where I was welcomed by 2 of the most iconic video game intros...

Both need no sound for you to hear them

After quickly shedding a tear, I powered through to finally get to my goal of playing basketball during quarantine...but then the music soundtrack came on and a new wave of emotions dawned upon me as fond memories of sitting on the floor and playing these games non stop all summer with friends...

I had to pause and text them to let them know I was playing...after 1 hour of catching up...back to business.

I wanted to do 1 quick game but had no idea what team to choose because I had no idea who was on what team. I ended up selecting 2 players who were still playing in the NBA today, Lebron on the Cavs and Carmelo on the Nuggets. I chose to play the Nuggets because I figured I pay homage to the cover athlete.

I won't bore you with my game recap but if a Gamecube was compatible with twitch, this would have totally gone viral on the social media

Highlights of this game

• I won the tip! but then immediately got called for a backcourt violation 1 second into the game...

• Lebron James scored the 1st points of the game...figures

• After 1 quarter, I went down 23 points before remembering the secret formula...which consisted of 3 point shooting (I like to think of myself as the innovator of the 3 point revolution before it was a thing...) and dunking.

• This forced me to adjust my lineup to consist of my top 3 three point shooters and 2 best dunkers...which hilariously did not feature Carmelo...kind of ironic in a way especially on how Melo's career turned out near the end of his career.

• After jacking up over 30 three pointers and bulldozing people by dunking, I stormed back and almost had a chance to win but ultimately lost by 3 points...

• Also, how are you supposed to shoot these impossible free throws?

After 2 months of social distancing and gaining the quarantine 19, I finally played some type of basketball and enjoyed every moment of it. Throw in some nostalgia memories, and this made this activity a moment to remember for the ages.