posted on by Ken Iikura-Gross
New One Piece footage featuring Luffy playing basketball planned for game on February 28
The Los Angeles Lakers basketball team revealed that its “One Piece Night” event on February 28 will feature a first look at a new animation of One Piece protagonist Monkey D. Luffy playing basketball, a limited Lakers x One Piece T-shirt, and a One Piece Bounty Rush photo booth on the main concourse inside the Crypto.com Arena. In addition, randomly selected fans will get to “compete for prizes in a special on-court ONE PIECE game.” The official X (formerly Twitter) account for the LA Lakers unveiled a One Piece Night collaboration poster that features the 10 members of the Straw Hat Pirates in Lakers uniforms playing basketball. The image caption reads, “Friday night: ‘The Straw Hat Pirates’ will be coming to LA in the Purple & Gold.”
©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha ©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation ©Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha ©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation ©Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 25, 2025
The LA Lakers initially announced the One Piece collaboration on December 20 with an image of Luffy in a Lakers uniform performing a slam dunk.
Along with the LA Lakers One Piece Night the Boston Red Sox baseball team announced their second One Piece Theme Day on February 19. The baseball team previously collaborated in August 2024 for a One Piece Day. The event celebrated the One Piece anime’s 25th anniversary and featured a cosplay, Jersey Street pregame performance by the Magnificent Danger band, and a limited-edition Monkey D. Luffy bobblehead “repping a Red Sox uniform.”
Sources: Email correspondence, LA Lakers’ X/Twitter account
