https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/22/arts/readers-favorite-sports-video-games.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9U0.ff37.o7ymh480eTDm&smid=url-share
I think some of this is the age of the folks they talked to - there is only one NES game on the list (Tecmo Super Bowl) and one Atari game, otherwise everything is Super NES or newer.
A NES game is on there, you all failed.
NBA Jam on SNES was trash. The Genesis version was better in every way. SNES Jam is on the list and thus the entire thing is ruined.
Also, while NBA Jam was indeed groundbreaking, NBA Hang Time was better in every way (and even got a pretty decent SNES port, very late in the console's life).
This article smacks of them just going with the first 15 submissions they got and printing them