Shout Out / Kuroko's Basketball

This is a list of shout-out references for Kuroko's Basketball.

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Real-Life NBA Player Models

Here are the likeliest National Basketball Association (NBA) players that serve as models to the following Kuroko's Basketball characters.

Seirin High School

• Tetsuya Kuroko might as well wear a San Antonio Spurs jersey because he's the Manu Ginobili analog of Seirin High.^note Like Kuroko, Ginobili is an all-star-tier starter taking on the role of sixth man in the Spurs to allow the rest of his teammates to shine. Because of this, he was able to help the Spurs stymie the championship ambitions of the Miami Heat under LeBron "King" James and the L.A. Lakers under Kobe "Black Mamba" Bryant multiple times.
  • The Spurs is also a specific NBA team that relies less on superlative ace players and more on teamwork and player chemistry. Just like Seirin High.
  • Kuroko's Ignite Pass and Ignite Pass (Kai) is definitely a shout-out to Ginobili's own signature bullet-like quick passing technique.
  • The Vanishing Drive, meanwhile, can be considered an exaggerated version of the defender-misdirecting Euro Step.
  • As for his unorthodox passes, they're a mix of Manu's improvised passing, Jason "White Chocolate" Williams' creative passes, and even "Pistol" Pete Maravich's circus-like stunt passes.
• As for Taiga Kagami, it makes sense he'd have the Chicago Bulls jersey since he's quite like Mike.
  • His play-style^note that depends on athleticism, high jumps, the ability to "airwalk" or glide in midair, and powerful dunks is straight out of the playbook of a young 1988 Michael Jordan with shades of 2010 Blake Griffin thrown in for good measure.
  • When he, like Aomine, gets into "The Zone"^note which is a real-life mental concept, his senses and rhythm become so heightened that a scant few other players in the field could keep up with him a la Jordan in his prime.
  • Kagami against Aomine showed that when two roughly equal players are in the zone, their resulting duel is quite beautiful to behold, like watching poetry in motion between Bird and Magic, Jordan and Kobe, or LeBron and Curry. Or maybe even LeBron vs. Jordan.
  • His Meteor Jam in particular has been done by Blake Griffin and many others.
• As Seirin's shooting guard and team captain, Junpei Hyuga fulfills the role of George "The Iceman" Gervin from the 1970s when it comes to his accurate three-pointers that require Nerves of Steel to accomplish.
• Teppei Kiyoshi serves as Seirin's Tim Duncan. Like Duncan, Kiyoshi is also "The Big Fundamental" with his exceptional skills in defense, rebounding, and scoring.
  • Coincidentally, Kiyoshi’s "Right of Postponement" ability ended up being very similar to Nikola Jokic's playing style.
• Shun Izuki is gifted with the "Eagle Eye" or excellent court vision^note (a basketball player's ability to see and understand everything going on the basketball court while in play, as though they're looking at everything from above the court or the bird's eye point of view), making him Seirin's best floor general. Among the Duncan-led Spurs, both Manu Ginobli and the French point guard Tony Parker possessed excellent court vision.^note Parker's skills also helped San Antonio win four NBA championships.

Generation of Miracles/Teiko Junior High School

• Ryouta/Ryota Kise, the one in the Generation of Miracles with copycat powers, should wear a Golden State Warriors jersey as the Klay Thompson of Kaijo/Kaijou High.
  • Among the Warriors, Kise is most reminiscent of pre-injury Klay Thompson thanks to his versatility on the court.^note They're both quick enough to defend point guards but powerful enough to hold their own against power forwards. Kise has natural quickness tested to their utmost limits when he did a Perfect Copy on Aomine during the Inter High quarterfinals. He also has enough innate strength to do a Perfect Copy of the bigger Murasakibara's signature shot blocks. He's also just as injury-prone as Klay.
  • His copy abilities can also be attributed to the late Kobe Bryant, who patterned his play-style to the NBA greats of history as a true student of the sport^note (particularly Michael Jordan, who claims Kobe "stole" all his moves).
  • Former Golden State Warrior Kevin Durant is also a known "move thief".
  • The Mirror Match between Touou's Aomine and Kaijo's Kise is reminiscent of the rivalry between Kobe (Kise) and Jordan (Aomine)^note with Kobe slowly but surely becoming more Jordan-like the more they played each other the same way Kise turned into Aomine with his Perfect Copy. Or Kobe (Kise) and LeBron (Aomine).
• As for Shūtoku/Shuutoku shooting guard Shintarou/Shintaro Midorima, of course he'd be Larry "Legend" Bird from the Boston Celtics.
  • The comparison is in light of his crazy-accurate jump shots, his height and length, his underrated abilities as team playmaker, his strategic mind on the court, and his will to win. He even has green hair that matches the team colors of the Celtics.
  • Among current NBA players, his closest analog is Steph Curry, who is the league's current leader in three-point scoring of all time but is much shorter than Midorima.^note  There's also Kevin Durant, who is also an accurate, consummate scorer that shares the same build as Midorima. Ray Allen is another super-accurate and super-tall shooting guard who used to have made the most three pointers of all time before Steph overtook him.
  • He's reminiscent of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in terms of his shot consistency too. He could do threes as often as Kareem does his patented Sky Hook with just about the same level of accuracy, even when it's being defended against.
  • It also makes sense that the only one not from the Generation of Miracles to stop his unstoppable long-range shots would be someone like Kagami (the Michael Jordan analog), which is reminiscent of the Jordan and Bird rivalry.
• Daiki Aomine, The Ace of both Teiko in middle school and Touou in high school, should share jerseys with LeBron James when he was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
  • His unstoppable play-style and natural talent makes him like King James, but his selfish "ball hog" play and winning ways are more reminiscent of the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.^note James is more generous with his assists to teammates for the sake of team play.
  • Perhaps he even has shades of Allen Iverson in him as well, particularly with his street ball background and unorthodox shots.
  • Then again, the formless shot is something Aomine might've specifically gotten from Kevin Durant.
• Atsushi Murasakibara and his classic big guy play-style as a powerful center for both Teiko and Yousen is definitely reminiscent of Shaquille O'Neal, particularly when Shaq was playing for the Phoenix Suns.
  • However, his all-defense bullish play-style of guarding under the basket like a wall is reminiscent of two other NBA legends—the 11-time champion and Celtic center Bill Russell or his rival, the freak of nature Wilt Chamberlain.
• Seijuurou/Seijuro Akashi of Rakuzan High should naturally wear an L.A. Lakers jersey. His equivalent in the NBA is either (a shorter version of) Kobe Bryant or Magic Johnson.
  • He might be Magic because of his passing abilities and because he had his own cerebral approach to the game that elevates the rest of his team with his plays.
  • He might also be Kobe because he's known for his ankle breakers and analytical, predictive defense as well.
  • Akashi's "Emperor Eye" personality is definitely reminiscent of Kobe's "Mamba Mentality" and ball-hogging tendencies or Magic's indominable determination to win against rival Larry Bird's Celtics^note hence his rivalry with the similarly strategy-minded Midorima.
  • The way Kobe doesn't flinch with Matt Barnes' fake pass to his face is reminiscent to when Emperor Eye Akashi does the same thing with Midorima's fake pass.
  • However, his height, his moves like the elbow pass, and his amazing assists that work to his teammates' strengths make him more of a shout-out to the likes of Jason Williams^note (especially when it comes to his shorter stature and original personality's play-style... also, his ankle breakers) or Allen Iverson^note (who's also a shorter yet skilled baller... with a killer ankle breaker himself).
• For Tetsuya Kuroko, refer to the Seirin High School folder.

Yousen High School

• Tatsuya Himuro, Kagami's childhood friend and shooting guard of Yousen, should sport a New York Knicks jersey as Yousen's Carmelo Anthony.
  • Among the Knicks, Himuro has a highly refined play-style reminiscent of Melo, who has so many features to his offensive game that he can score in so many different ways, inside and out.
  • Melo is also capable of the fake-outs Himuro is famous for.
  • This might be the closest real-life example of Himuro's Mirage Shot. It's also reminiscent (less so) of Kuroko's Phantom Shot.
• As for Atsushi Murasakibara, refer to the Generation of Miracles folder.

Kirisaki Daiichi High School

• Makoto Hanamiya of the Uncrowned Kings is Kirisaki Daiichi High's Isiah Thomas.
  • He's even nicknamed "The Bad Boy" for good measure, which is also what the 1980s Detroit Pistons were called.
  • Like Hanamiya, the Pistons were also dubbed "The Bad Boys" during the 80s and the early 90s due to their underhanded, rough, and physical style of play. ^note This play-style was directly aimed at Michael Jordan with their "Jordan Rules" due to Michael's initially skinny frame.
• The rest of the Kirisaki Daiichi High players played the same aggressive defense style as their real-life "Bad Boy" Pistons counterparts, so their entire team could be a collective shout-out to the 1980s Pistons.

In General

• Tadatoshi Fujimaki, creator of the original manga, paired each character with one of the 30 NBA teams for the Kuroko's Basketball: Last Game and NBA collaboration, and character designer Youko Kikuchi drew anime illustrations to match. Based on their jerseys, you can conclude which of the top characters in Kuroko no Basket represents which specific NBA players.
• Speaking of the NBA, here's a YouTube video compilation of the different special moves that Kuroko no Basket characters have and their potential real-life NBA inspirations.

References in The Last Game

The movie Kuroko's Basketball: The Last Game has multiple references going for it.

Team Jabberwock

• Jason Silver is likely an even closer Expy to LeBron James than Aomine is. ^note It's because he is renowned for having great athleticism despite his size. They're also both African Americans.
  • Meanwhile, his first name might have been taken from famous NBA Jasons like Jason Kidd or Jason Williams.
• Nash Gold Jr. is likely based on NBA player Steve Nash.^note The two share the same name, height, weight, and position. They're also both Caucasians and they both played for the NBA.
  • However, from what he had shown based on his play-style, it can be said that he is instead based on the former Boston Celtics player Bob Cousy and his "eyes at the back of his head" type of plays.^note In addition to play-style, the two also share similar nicknames. Gold is the "Magician" while Bob Cousy is "The Houdini of the Hardwood".

In General

• The street ball exhibition match of Team Jabborwock against Team Strky, meanwhile, is reminiscent of the types of games regularly played by the Harlem Globetrotters.
• The combined team of former Teiko Teammates plus Kagami is referred to in-universe as the Dream Team, which is a reference to the real-life 1992 U.S. Olympic Basketball Dream Team composed of NBA Legends and Hall of Famers like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Charles Barkley.
• The name of the Dream Team, Team Vorpal Swords, refers to the sword found in Lewis Carroll's 1871 nonsense poem "Jabberwocky". Team Jabberwock is also named after the same poem.
• Kuroko stealing the ball from Nash Gold in the penultimate possession of the game has shades of Manu Ginobli's from-behind game-winning block on James Harden during Game 5 of San Antonio Spurs vs. Houston Rockets in 2017.^note This is more of a shout-out from the anime movie than the manga version that was published about a year before Game 5 happened.

References to Slam Dunk

One of Tadatoshi Fujimaki's favorite manga/anime is Slam Dunk, so naturally Kuroko's Basketball is full of references to the series.

• Taiga Kagami can be considered an Expy of Hanamichi Sakuragi for all the same reasons that he's a dunk-happy Expy of Michael Jordan mixed with Blake Griffin (Kagami is obviously a better scorer and shooter than the rebound king Hanamichi though). They also share the same jersey number of No. 10.
• Shintarou Midorima might be a shooting guard, but his appearance and build is highly reminiscent of Shoyo's center, Toru Hanagata. Most anything not involving Midorima's insane shooting abilities harken back to Hanagata, like his tallness, his eye glasses, his defensive capabilities, and his strategic play.
• Although it's a bit of a stretch, Junpei Hyuuga/Hyuga looks a bit like Kiminobu Kogure in appearance rather than attitude. Hyuga is a closer Expy attitude-wise to Hisashi Mitsui though.^note Both are shooting guards with accurate 3-pointers, both are prone to anger, and both are guys who keep the team together. Close with the coach as well. Also had a delinquent phase, although Hyuga was more of a "delinquent wannabe".
• Teiko Captain Shuuzo Nijimura also acts quite like Mitsui Hisashi^note including being a delinquent who stole a motorcycle once. However, in his case it's more of an allusion to the man who voiced him.
• Speaking of allusion, Kaede Rukawa's voice actor has somehow ended up in Kuroko's Basketball: The Last Game as well by voicing the ankle-breaking Nash Gold Jr.
• Ryouta Kise having a horde of fangirls follow him every game is also reminiscent of Kaede Rukawa's shtick in Slam Dunk.
• Aspects of the Kaede Rukawa and Hanamichi Sakuragi rivalry were switched around for the light and shadow tandem of Tetsuya Kuroko and Taiga Kagami.
  • For example, Kuroko has Rukawa's brooding, quiet personality but like Sakuragi, he's the liability of his team that has to work on a specific skill to help them out.
  • Meanwhile, Kagami has the abundance of athletic talent and potential that Sakuragi has, but he's not a novice in basketball. Therefore, he's more of the Rukawa type of basketball player who's a gifted but hardworking scorer and slasher when on the court.
  • Both Kuroko and Sakuragi couldn't take on The Ace of their respective teams one-on-one either.
• The ending of Seirin vs. Touou where an exhausted Seirin ended up sleeping in the locker room is a shout-out to the ending of Shohoku vs. Shoyo in Slam Dunk, with Shohoku doing the same thing (especially when compared to the anime version of the scene).

Miscellaneous

• Shinji Koganei, the small forward reserve player of Seirin, looks a lot like Kaoru Koganei of Flame of Recca fame.
• According to Word of God, Junpei Hyuga is actually the Expy or Author Avatar of Kuroko no Basket author Tadatoshi Fujimaki. They really do look alike though.
• In Chapter 94, look very closely at this image, you may just see someone familiar.
  • In that same chapter, when Hyuuga orders the first years to decide who cleans the fungus-infested locker using jan-ken-pon and Kagami objects to the hierarchy:
    Hyuuga: "You're in Japan. Dis! Iz! Zapan!!"
• Tsuchida being bit by a cat before the Touou game.
• Chapter 19 of Replace Plus has Hyuga work in a figurine shop, and several of them are of One Piece characters.

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