HoopsHype.com Rumors

Former Detroit forward and NBA hopeful Doug Anderson has spent hours playing the NBA 2K video game. When NBA 2K14 is released in October, Anderson will be able watch images of himself. Anderson, a 6-5 forward who turned heads when he won the NCAA dunk contest during Final Four weekend, said the opportunity to be a part of NBA 2K was too good to pass up. Some of his moves and dunks were used in creating the game. Detroit News

Draft, Videogames, Doug Anderson 

During the EA Games presentation at E3 today, Cleveland Cavaliers star point guard Kyrie Irving came out on to the stage to help unveil the return of NBA Live 14. Of course, EA Sports had to be dramatic, so they used a slam poet to hype up the crowd and get the buzz going. Irving joined executive producer Sean O’Brien to help introduce the game and the new “Bounce Tech” system which makes ball handling the top priority. FanSided

Cleveland Cavaliers, Videogames, Kyrie Irving 

2K Sports has tried to sell more video games the past couple years by putting Michael Jordan on the cover and some legendary players of the NBA in the game. Now they are returning to today’s biggest star. LeBron James will be on the cover of the new NBA 2K14 when it comes out this fall, 2K Sports announced. LeBron also was involved in some of the new development aspects of the game (although safe bet he didn’t sit there are write the code). NBCSports.com

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Videogames 

Dennis Rodman's friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is getting lampooned in the most fitting of ways via YouTube. Rodman teams up with the dictator in a bizarro version of the beloved video game NBA Jam. The results are ... supreme. USA Today Sports

Videogames, Dennis Rodman, North Korea, Kim Jong Un 

If there is one thing that everyone can agree on, it's that for the last 18-plus years, we have patiently awaited a follow-up to "Shaq Fu," the 1994 video game that told the story of Shaquille O'Neal wandering into a kung-fu dojo on his way to a charity basketball game, stumbling into an alternate dimension and battling various enemies (like evil mummies) with an array of fighting moves (like flaming roundhouse kicks). Now, at long last, our wait is over, thanks to Hiptic Games' new release, "ShaqDown." Behold: Yahoo! Sports

Shaquille O'Neal, Videogames 

While not a sequel, per se, Hiptic did envision "ShaqDown" as a spiritual successor to one of the most reviled games of all time, as Yahoo! Games colleague Chris Morris wrote at Plugged In: "When we were working on the game, we codenamed it Shaq Fu 2," Long Vo, cofounder and creative director of developer Hiptic, tells VentureBeat. "This game is set in a postapocalyptic world where Shaq has become a legend, and it’s up to him to save humanity from mutant zombies." That’s right. The Big Survivor. As you might have guessed, O'Neal has a sense of humor about his gaming legacy, having told the developers to "have fun with it." And it looks like they did. In addition to bringing the pain to legions of undead jerks, Shaq will team up with a variety of allies, including three-time world wrestling champ Lee Kemp. Yahoo! Sports

Shaquille O'Neal, Videogames 

Multiple images leaking out last night show NBA 2K13 featuring Oklahoma City's new alternate jerseys—with the team nickname misspelled as THUDNER. What's crazy is that everyone seemed to miss the misspelling the first time it was posted. That image above comes from Operation Sports' Steve Noah on his Twitter account. Daily Thunder, a fan site following the team, appears not to have noticed until its commenters pointed it out. Paul Lukas at UniWatch didn't miss it, and found a cellphone pic of a screen that also carries the misspelling. Kotaku.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Videogames, Merchandising 

In London, Durant heard comparisons between the '92 and '12 teams, but stayed out of the discussion. He said he's excited about seeing two U.S. teams separated by 20 years square off, at least digitally. "I can't wait to see that, man," Durant said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. "They did so much for the game. Those are guys we all looked up to ... It'll be cool to have them in the game and to play against them. It's something people will really enjoy because the actual game will never happen." USA Today

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, USA Basketball, Videogames 

Fans of Electronic Arts' pro basketball franchise NBA Live will have to wait at least one more year before its return to the virtual court. The publisher announced it is cancelling the launch of NBA Live 13 through a blog post on the game's official website. Andrew Wilson, executive vice president of EA Sports, says in the blog post that the game has failed to reach the "high quality experience" the publisher wants. "Having continued to look at the game over the past few days, it's clear that we won't be ready in October," says Wilson. "And rather than launch midway through the season, we're going to sit out the full year and stay focused on making next year's game great. This decision puts us on the right track for success well into the future in a rapidly changing industry." USA Today

Videogames 

Sneakerheads, rejoice. Not only does “NBA 2K13” feature more brands and shoes than ever before, but for the first time, the producers built special shaders in their game to make everything from the patent leather to the rubber pop on screen. “The cool thing is that now the shoes look tangible,” “NBA 2K13” producer Rob Jones explains as he details all the cool kicks that made their way into his game. ESPN.com

Sneakers, Videogames 

Los Angeles-based video game rental service GameFly has tapped Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin as its new spokesperson, the company said Tuesday. socalTECH.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Blake Griffin, Videogames 

Paul George: Shout out my Portuguese brother @Cristiano for these ass whoopings I'm handing out in the new FIFA 13 tonight ! Twitter @King24George

Indiana Pacers, Paul George, Real Madrid, Videogames, Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo 

We all win when the Lucas Brothers invite Blake Griffin into their mom's basement to talk basketball. The Clippers superstar explains that he wants to dominate All-Star Weekend including the halftime entertainment. He makes the Blake-Face but turns down some home cooking. USA Today

Los Angeles Clippers, Blake Griffin, Videogames 

Just hours after NHL13 gave everyone a look at the new Hershey Bears logo, it appears as if NBA2K13 one-upped their rivals at EASports by giving us a nice view of the new New York Knicks uniforms for 2012-13. The leaked images were first posted on ProSportsDaily from a YouTube preview video which was quickly pulled off the site. SportsLogos

New York Knicks, Videogames 

Can an athlete make the successful transition from starring in video games to creating his or her own? NBA star Baron Davis is out to prove the naysayers wrong after the debacle that was Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios, as Davis is teaming up with former EA Sports creative force Sean O’Brien to form 5 Balloons Interactive, a new mobile gaming company producing titles for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. ESPN.com

Videogames, Baron Davis 

ESPN Playbook: The video game industry can be a tricky and expensive business. Baron, why did you want to invest both your time and money in creating 5 Balloons Interactive? Baron Davis: I just think that right now gaming is at an all-time high. For me, I see how innovations are happening in the digital world, and I want to participate in it. There are some fun opportunities out here in the marketplace with the iPad and all of these mobile systems where you can start playing games as apps, and that’s a whole different experience than what people are used to. I hooked up with Sean, and we talked about creating games where people could ultimately have a greater experience than what they were getting with just the normal iPad apps. ESPN.com

Videogames, Baron Davis 

Deron Williams: In LA...excited to go to #E3 and play @NBABallerBeats Twitter

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams, Videogames 

SLAM: Tell me about this game, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier, and your role as a long-range sniper for Ubisoft’s Team Ghost. KL: I’ve always been a fan of the one-man shooting game, so this was a great opportunity for me. And you know, for me, I’m the type of guy who, whatever the one-man shooting game is, I always like to bring out the sniper and shoot guys from long range. I guess, in some ways, it’s somewhat similar to what I do on the court, and the game’s great because you can get out there with three of your buddies and get on the same team and go into battle. So, in some ways, it’s very similar to being out there and playing basketball. SLAM

Minnesota Timberwolves, Videogames, Kevin Love 

SLAM: Do you and your teammates play a lot of video games? KL: Yes. Definitely. We’re very competitive, and it’s always fun to keep the competitive spirit going, whether we are on the court, in the locker room or in the weight room, and we do it with video games as well. And Ghost Recon is definitely one of the games we play. And FIFA… a lot of sports games as well. SLAM: How long does a typical video game tournament go? KL: [Laughs] Hey, it will go as many hours as it takes for the beef to be settled. It’s always fun to have that kind of competitive back-and-forth between teammates, and that will go on for days, weeks or even months. I mean I remember with JJ Barea and Derrick Williams with FIFA, they were going at it for the entire season and counting their wins and losses. It’s just fun to get in the trenches with different players. SLAM

Minnesota Timberwolves, Videogames, Kevin Love, Jose Juan Barea, Derrick Williams 

Today on Devour’s homepage, trending video website, posted ‘Blake Griffin Gets NBA Jammed.” That’s right, the classic 2-on-2 video game that is all about monster jams. Since they don’t make the video game anymore, SB Nation produced a Chris Paul and Blake Griffin highlight reel using the video games graphics and sounds to simulate the 2-on-2 game. CBS Los Angeles

Los Angeles Clippers, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Videogames