Second-year Clippers Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson competed on the same AAU team, were roommates during pre-draft workouts and have been inseparable since coming to Los Angeles last year. They're young – 20 and 21 years old respectively – and rank among the NBA's most athletic players. Richardson is the mouth of the two, although Miles has more than a little to say when he's beating his best friend on Nintendo GameCube. Miles is the one who brings his game system on road trips, but Richardson doesn't usually have to do much convincing to get in on the game.

It's one thing to duel in the privacy of a hotel room and quite another to do so in front of millions of NBA.com users worldwide. However, Miles and Richardson proclaimed themselves up to the challenge of taking their video game rivalry public in the name of helping us review Nintendo's NBA Courtside 2002.

The Lineups:

Wizards (Richardson)	Lakers (Miles)
Richard Hamilton	Derek Fisher
Michael Jordan	Kobe Bryant
Brendan Haywood	Shaquille O'Neal

Game Play:

First Quarter:

The game gets off to a flying start, literally. Miles and Richardson trade baskets with a series of above-the-backboard jams that would probably leave even Darryl Dawkins defying description. Then Richarson makes a defensive stop as Jordan blocks Bryant's shot. "Get that stuff outta here!" Richardson yells.

The score is 8-6 in favor of Richardson's Wizards when he throws up an outside jumper that surprises both players. "Whoa, that was a four-point shot!" he observes as the score doubles up on Miles 12-6. Thus the discovery that one of the Courtside variations provides certain "hot zones" where if you hit the shot, you receive the number of points illuminated in the circle. This changes the strategy considerably.

But Miles sticks to the reliable two-pointers, namely in the form of a dunk by O'Neal. He makes a defensive stop at the other end of the floor, but when his Lakers come back down on offense, Miles has O'Neal pull up for the jumper. It swishes through the net as the quarter expires, much to the amazement of Richardson. 1st Q: WAS 12, LAL 10

Second Quarter:

Richardson opens the second quarter with a monster jam by you-know-who. "Oh lookit!" Richardson cries. "That's him hangin' on the rim. That's old school MJ. New school MJ doesn't do that anymore." Miles pulls within a point off a Bryant reverse dunk and then steals the ball and sends it up to Fisher, who slams it down through the hoop, much to Richardson's amusement. "Derek Fisher has never dunked like that in his life," he comments about the Lakers' diminutive point guard. Meanwhile, that score has given Miles the 17-16 lead, but he refrains from letting loose any smack.

Richardson, however, finds this turn of events a bit distressing and blames it on his inability to master the controller. "I've got to learn how to shoot or something," he mutters and then sees a bigger problem. "I've got Mike playing center! He's guarding Shaq!" But it's difficult to rotate without leaving one of the other Lakers open and Miles goes into the break on top. Half: WAS 21, LAL 24

Third Quarter:

One jumper in the hot zone gives Richardson the lead back with a five-point play. The intensity has risen, but doesn't become apparent to the rest of the room until O'Neal responds with a four-pointer and Miles booms "DIESEL fluid!" Richardson answers by rattling off three straight shots, forcing Miles to reevaluate his controller. "How do you fade?" he asks and as Richardson leans over to show his best friend, he also picks up another score.

By the time Jordan blocks a Fisher shot – "Get that outta here!" Richardson yells again – the Wizards have mounted a 47-26 lead. Richardson then adds insult to injury with a seven-point shot and some smack: "Man, I'm blowing you out now." Miles is annoyed. "How come you're getting all the high-point shots and I'm not?" he asks. "You're going too fast," Richardson answers and punctuates his thought with a six-point shot. 3rd Q: WAS 52, LAL 30

Fourth Quarter:

With Miles about to inbound the ball to start the fourth quarter, the television suddenly flashes to the introduction screen. Miles has abruptly ended the match. Richardson looks startled and glances over at Miles, who's staring straight ahead and starting to click through the options. "A'ight, let's play a real game now," Miles says quietly. Richardson knows his best friend better than anyone. He nods and begins his own clicking without further comment.

Parting Shots:

Video: 740k avi | Quicktime

"We helped them make this game," Richardson explains. "They told us that they were going to put in the stuff that we do, on our guys. I had to run motions, run dribbles, dunking and stuff." So both players are very pleased with the realism – and then some – of their video game alter egos. "I like my body," the lanky Miles says with a grin. "I've got muscles and stuff. They made me look good."

However, Neither Miles nor Richardson wanted to play as their real life team – a departure from our previous reviewers. When asked why not, Miles says it wouldn't be fair. "I'd just give the ball to myself every time," Richardson elaborates.

Next Week: Miles and Richardson face off in an exhibition five-on-five game. Who gets the golden controller? Stay tuned to find out …

© 2002 Nintendo. The NBA and individual NBA member Team identifications used on or in this product are trademarks, copyrighted designs and other forms of intellectual property of NBA Properties, Inc. and the respective NBA member Teams and may not be used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of NBA Properties, Inc. © 2001 NBA Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.