One NBA Star’s ‘Naruto’ Sneakers Are Wowing Fans

Naruto may have ended its main series a couple years back, but the franchise is livelier than ever. Not only has Boruto carried on with the Hidden Leaf, but one NBA star is reminding everyone that anime fanatics come from all walks of life.

So, yes — even your favorite NBA players stan Naruto. If they can do it, then you can too.

Over the weekend, fans were shown Cauley-Stein in all of his shonen glory when the player hit the court. The Sacramento Kings player was let loose on Utah, and fans watched Cauley-Stein do as much in some custom Naruto sneakers.

As you can see above, the special kicks feature two iconic ninjas hailing from the Hidden Leaf. One shoe is colored bright orange, and the PG 2 features a close-up of Naruto Uzumaki. The ninja looks fierce as his eyes glow an ominous red shade, and the body of the show also has some Rasengan highlights at its edge.

If you check out the other shoe, you will see the PG 2 is dedicated to a certain Uchiha. Sasuke takes over the sneaker easily with a deep purple color palate. Of course, Sasuke’s eyes are glowing red thanks to his Sharingan bloodline talent, and his signature Lightning chakra stands in for the Rasengan on Cauley-Stein’s other foot.

Some fans may be surprised to see Naruto step on the basketball court, but NBA players do take their anime very seriously. In fact, another athlete hit the court earlier this month in their own custom kicks, but Jeremy Lin didn’t shout out Naruto or Sasuke with his shoes; Instead, the Atlanta Hawks player stepped out in a pair of Akatsuki-themed sneakers, and its black-and-red color palate only added to Lin’s impressive jumps. Oh, and it just so happens the player was going up against Cauley-Stein’s team when Lin broke out his nefarious Naruto kicks.

So, would you be willing to rock a pair of shoes like these? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows a young ninja, with a sealed demon within him, that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and features the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.