Dragon Ball Z style fanart of Jokic vs Shai gets anime fans hyped for 2025 NBA Playoffs' next round

Dragon Ball Z became the talk of the town in recent basketball circles on X since a user named @luckymong1 made an illustration to hype the next round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. It features Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic as Mystic Gohan and Super Buu, respectively, when they stood face to face before their battle.

This Dragon Ball illustration is quite obvious in its intention since it focuses on displaying the two star players of these teams before their climactic confrontation on the court. Furthermore, the use of Gohan and Buu seems quite fitting when considering how iconic that frame has become in recent years, serving as the inspiration for endless amounts of memes all over the internet.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the manga/anime and reflects the opinions of the writer and the people quoted.

A recent Dragon Ball illustration gets basketball and anime fans hyped for the 2025 NBA playoffs

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As was previously stated, there is a fan illustration made by the X user @luckymong1 which depicts Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic as Mystic Gohan and Super Buu, respectively, staring at each other before their battle. Naturally, the people who love anime and basketball enjoyed this post quite a lot, to the point of making it viral.

On the other hand, fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were not too happy to have him as Gohan since they knew what the half-Saiyan's fate was in this battle. Furthermore, some people have joked about the choice of having Nikola Jokic as Super Buu since the Serbian has a history of being a little overweight, with some saying he should have been portrayed as the fat Buu.

Be that as it may, the illustration also served to build up hype for the clash between these two teams, especially considering Jokic and Shai's status as two of the most popular players in the entirety of the NBA. In many ways, it works just like the Gohan and Super Buu battle since it features two major players in their respective areas.

More reactions online

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Most Dragon Ball fans know that Gohan didn't fare very well in this battle against Super Buu, even if his unlocked potential gave him the upper hand at first. He allowed Goten and Trunks to fuse into Gotenks and attempted to fight Buu, only for the latter to use this to absorb them and grow strong, eventually overpowering Goku's oldest son in the process.

Therefore, a lot of Oklahoma fans hope that Shai and their favorite team don't fare the same way as Gohan did in this battle. However, it is likely that the author didn't mean to take any sides in this illustration and just wanted to depict this clash in anime format.

"Majin Buu defeated and ate Gohan in this fight," someone said.

"Y’all know what happened to mystic Gohan for cocky," another person said.

"Thought I was the only one who made that Majin Buu parallel to Jokic, just like Haaland lol," someone else said.

All in all, it is an illustration that surprised a lot of people, Dragon Ball fans or not, and also built some hype for the upcoming 2025 NBA playoff.

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About the author

Kevin is an expert anime writer at Sportskeeda who endeavors to keep readers apprised with the latest news and trends in the genre via his content. The groundbreaking Dragon Ball series captured a young Kevin's imagination, introducing him to the entrancing world of Japanese animation. Since then, he has been a staunch follower of the works of many artists, including Berserk's creator, Kentaro Miura, who he admires greatly for his unparalleled work quality.

With a BA in Public Accounting, Kevin’s dip into the world of content began 7 years ago when he took up writing. Since then, he has written for numerous websites, including Nerdgenic, Stretty News, MusikHolics, and BookNerdection.

He maintains very high ethical standards in his content by placing a strong emphasis on transparency, and obtaining comprehensive information off the web to fully capture nuances.

Kevin has has had the privilege of interviewing several musicians, including metal band Stryper’s Michael Sweet, Bobby Blitz of Overkill, and Saxon’s Biff Byford.

When not immersed in the anime world, Kevin writes comic book scripts and books for his own projects. He also enjoys reading and watching football.

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Edited by Tiasha