The teams for the 2024 finals of the NBA have been decided, and a piece of promo work transforms them into characters from Demon Slayer to build excitement for the their games.
No medium does huge showdowns like the best anime can. Right now, Demon Slayer is building towards the hero Tanjiro facing demon king Muzan, a massive fight that could rival the likes of Gohan Vs Cell in Dragon Ball Z, or Asuka battling the Evas in End of Evangelion.
Bleacher Report is channeling energy from the currently-ongoing Demon Slayer Season 4 for this year’s NBA finals, with some awesome art that turns star players from the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks into Tanjiro and Muzan. The result is something that induces goosebumps, even if you aren’t a basketball fan.
In the foreground of the image, we have Jayson Tatum of the Celtics, his number 0 emblazoned on Tanjiro’s checkered haori. He stands, sword ready against Luka Dončić of the Mavericks, who stands on a hill as our Muzan stand-in, with several swords behind him to show the teams he’s finished along the way.
It’s a striking image, and one that creates a certain dynamic in your mind. Demon Slayer fans are loving the crossover, though they don’t quite agree with the depictions.
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“Making Dallas Mavs the villain instead of the Boston Celtics is certainly something,” says one commenter on Reddit. “Luka as Muzan makes zero sense,” says another.
“Luka is a goofy and fun guy, not like Muzan. All he does is a bit of trash talk,” explains another fan. Meanwhile, replies on X/Twitter are full of fans of both teams claiming that they’ll be getting a clean sweep this year. The advert has definitely helped stoke the rivalry a little more.
The Celtics are no stranger to this position, losing in the 2022 NBA finals. The Mavericks actually won in 2011, and neither team has ever faced the other to cap off the season like this. Just like all the best anime fights, it’s been years in the making.
The 2024 NBA finals, played out through a best-of-7 series, start on June 7, 2024. Check out our upcoming anime list if you’d rather see what’s going on in that realm, and we have guides to the living Hashira and the 6 stages of Hashira training to help you navigate Demon Slayer better.