Kuroko’s Basketball will be collaborating with the NBA for a special project on October 16 for its Street Rivals mobile game, according to the official X account. A new visual that features all 30 team logos with Kuroko wearing a Dallas Mavericks uniform alongside Kagami wearing a Chicago Bulls uniform is now out. More information on the collaboration will be revealed at a later date.
This would make it the second time the series has announced a collaboration with the NBA. In 2017, series creator Tadatoshi Fujimaki picked eight teams for a special project where he drew new illustrations with characters in different uniforms, one of them being Kagami in a Chicago Bulls uniform. The project was too promote the final movie of the series.
The project between the NBA and Kuroko’s Basketball continues the trend of the NBA’s work with different anime series. In 2023, some of the teams from the league collaborated with My Hero Academia for a limited merchandise line that included everything from jackets to t-shirts.
Recently, there has been an influx in anime collaborations with professional sports leagues and organizations. In August this year, Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants launched a project with Naruto Shippuden as did other teams. The NFL’s Los Angeles Rams also ran an entire One Piece promo event during one of their games last season, in which fans received some merchandise for attending the game.
Kuroko’s Basketball Anime and Manga
The Kuroko’s Basketball anime aired for three seasons totaling 75 episodes. Production I.G. handled the animation production for the series while Shunsuke Tada worked as the director for each season and the final movie titled “Kuroko’s Basketball The Movie: Last Game“, which came out in 2017. All episodes of Kuroko’s Basketball are currently available on Crunchyroll depending on your region.
The anime was based on the manga written and illustrated by Fujimaki. Weekly Shonen Jump began publishing the series in 2008 until it finally came to an end in September 2014 with chapter 269. The manga released a total of 30 volumes in both Japanese and English (VIZ Media). The Kuroko’s Basketball manga has accumulated over 31 million copies in circulation as of October 2024.
Feature image source: Crunchyroll
©Tadatoshi Fujimaki/Shueisha, Kuroko’s Basketball Production Committee