One Piece Shares Official Los Angeles Lakers Crossover Video: Watch

One Piece’s popularity is spreading all over the world, with more avenues finding ways to capitalize on the Straw Hat Pirates becoming household names. In one of the wildest crossovers of the shonen franchise to date, Luffy and his crew have jumped onto the court to team up with the Los Angeles Lakers. The One Piece/NBA collaboration gave basketball and anime fans alike a fun-filled night with plenty of merchandise, but the team-up also gave fans a special animation from Toei itself that shows how Luffy would do if he were an NBA player himself.

The special anime night took place on February 28th, with the National Basketball Association being more than willing to dive right into the Grand Line. When it came to describing the collaboration, here’s how the Los Angeles basketball team described joining the Straw Hat Pirates, “The Straw Hat Crew takeover LA in Purple and Gold! ONE PIECE x Los Angeles Lakers collaboration is here and check out this special animation celebrating the crossover. Can our captain Luffy take home the win?” Thanks to Monkey’s Devil Fruit powers, he seems like the perfect anime protagonist to pick up the ball and take it to the hole.

[RELATED: One Piece Shows Off New Los Angeles Lakers Collab Ahead of Game Night]

Luffy Takes It To The Hole

The animation itself was made by a major animator in the medium, Masami Mori. On top of storyboarding the One Piece series, the prolific artist has had a hand in quite a few other major franchises. On the artist’s resume, they have worked on Digimon, Dragon Ball Super, Sailor Moon, Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia, Mob Psycho 100, and One-Punch Man respectively. Needless to say, Mori once again shows off their skills with this new unbelievable collaboration.

One Piece’s Sports Collaborations Are Just Getting Started

The NBA isn’t the only sports league that the Thousand Sunny crew is looking to team up with. In May of this year, One Piece is teaming up with Major League Baseball and the Boston Red Sox for “One Piece Theme Day.” Arriving on May 3rd, this event isn’t the first time that the Straw Hats teamed up with the Red Sox as the success of the first outing led the way for this new collab.

Here’s how the Red Sox describes the crossover, “Back by popular demand: ONE PIECE Theme Day at Fenway Park! Grab your mighty crew and let’s set sail for ONE PIECE Theme Day on Saturday, May 3. Join your fellow Straw Hat Pirates to help cheer on the Red Sox as they take on the Minnesota Twins. Ticket holders who purchase through this special offer will receive a Red Sox & ONE PIECE jersey. Jerseys will be available in sizes Adult Small to XL, with preferred sizes distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Additionally, arrive early for special ONE PIECE-themed entertainment and activation. Join Luffy on his search to become King of the Pirates. Don’t miss this epic adventure!”

Want to stay updated on the Straw Hat Pirates’ sports collabs in the future? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for all the latest on One Piece and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.