Good news! After playing the uninstall, reinstall game several times I finally figured out how to fix the problem I was having with the game crashing.
1) I uninstalled the game, including the deletion of both NBA Live 07 folders (my docs and prog files).
2) I reinstalled the game (didn't have to do it in safe mode).
3) I downloaded and installed this patch: http://download.nba-live.com/index.php?act=view&id=1196
4) I then installed the NBA Live 07 NLSC v2.8 Roster Patch
And that's it. Not sure why that particular combo worked for me, but I've played through a complete season with OKC and have not had a single issue other then the game crashing when I tried to play the 3pt shoot out.
Thanks again for making a great roster update.
I may never get a good night sleep again.