Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Golden State Warriors NBA game gets a Jujutsu Kaisen reference in a way nobody imagined

Jujutsu Kaisen is arguably one of the most popular Shonen titles that any anime consumer might come across. It is animated by MAPPA, one of the largest production houses today, and the manga has achieved incredible sales during its run. In fact, the popularity of this title has reached every corner of the globe, prompting Bleacher Report to combine its love for basketball and Jujutsu Kaisen.

The NBA season is well underway, and the Minnesota Timberwolves have accomplished an incredible feat by knocking out the seven-time NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors, from the playoffs. Bleacher Report viewed this as an opportunity to pay homage to both the NBA and their favorite animanga series.

---

Why were fans reacting to the NBA X Jujutsu Kaisen

fan art?

As mentioned, the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off a massive upset by knocking out the Golden State Warriors. Their ace, Anthony Edwards, has been putting on quite the show. Furthermore, their veteran center, Karl-Anthony Towns, has been the backbone of this team. Therefore, Bleacher Report took to X to upload an illustration featuring Anthony Edwards and Draymond Green.

Sports fans often get quite passionate about the teams they follow. Furthermore, Draymond Green is infamous for his verbal jousting. His confidence in the Golden State Warriors is certainly not baseless. However, younger talents like Anthony Edwards have been showcasing their raw skills, which will only become more refined over time.

The manner in which they drew these characters was quite similar to the panel featuring Yuji Itadori and Mahito. As fans already know, these two characters have had a heated rivalry. Mahito is one of the most nefarious characters in the Jujutsu Kaisen series. Naturally, fans saw the similarity in the composition of the illustration and the manga panel. They filled the comments section with their thoughts on the homage, and most of them were quite positive in nature.

---

Fans react to the Warriors and Timberwolves illustration

It's clear that fans did not anticipate a crossover involving Draymond Green and Mahito from the Jujutsu Kaisen series. However, the way they drew him alongside Anthony Edwards was a clear reference to the infamous panel featuring Yuji Itadori and the aforementioned villain.

"Draymond as mahito oh my god it's never been more over", said one fan

"Mahito Draymond got me crying man, real force of chaos", said another

The subsequent comments were all directed at Draymond Green for announcing that his team would win the championship without a doubt.

"I thought Draymond said they were winning the Championship this year??", said one fan

"Welp this didn't age well", said another

"He was right. But nobody knew curry was going to get hurt", said one netizen

Draymond Green was convinced that the Golden State Warriors would win the championship. His interview with NBA veterans did not age well since the team lost. However, some fans defended the team, arguing that their star player, Stephen Curry, was out of the game due to injury.

---

Conclusion

It’s safe to say that collaborations between anime and sports organizations have been well-received over the past few months. NFL teams and NBA teams have featured some of the most popular anime titles, like One Piece, in their campaigns.

Consequently, netizens are more than happy to see such collaborations occur, as anime and sports have been seamlessly combined to create some of the most exciting animation sequences and fan art.

Stay tuned for more anime and manga news as 2025 progresses.

---