Games
Kuroko's Basketball: Tim Duncan Joins Street Rivals
Collaboration with the NBA has been running since February. Now the former Spurs player joins the Japanese mobile game as a time-limited character.
Tim Duncan has been available as a time-limited NBA guest player in the mobile game Kuroko's Basketball Street Rivals since October 28, 2026. Developer FIVECROSS has added the former San Antonio Spurs player to the ongoing collaboration between the anime game and the North American basketball league. Duncan appears after the October 28 maintenance in a special player gacha.
Tim Duncan Joins the NBA Collaboration
The new guest player is listed in the game as a center with the position "C". In the official announcement, FIVECROSS calls him the "Big Fundamental" and points to his fundamental technical skills and his role on both offense and defense. The published promotional visual shows Tim Duncan in a Spurs jersey alongside Tetsuya Kuroko in his Seirin uniform.
Besides the time-limited player gacha, special events with NBA themes are running. As rewards, the developer names, among other things, a customized basketball, a profile picture with frame, a court, a title, and materials for upgrading the characters. The developer leaves open which requirements apply to individual rewards and when the current event ends. Further details are available directly in the game.
The collaboration with the NBA already began on February 4, 2026. At that time, Tracy McGrady was announced as the first guest player. The current report therefore concerns an additional prominent player rather than the initial start of the entire collaboration.
Basketball Anime and Mobile Game
Kuroko's Basketball Street Rivals is a basically free 3D basketball game for iOS and Android with optional in-app purchases. According to the operator, it was released on November 16, 2023. Players compete on the virtual basketball court with characters from Tadatoshi Fujimaki's manga and its anime adaptation. The official game website carries the operator's announcements.
The TV adaptation of Kuroko's Basketball ran in Japan in three parts between 2012 and 2015. A connection between drawn basketball characters and real NBA players is the hallmark of this campaign. Other basketball anime also remain in the spotlight: a re-release of THE FIRST SLAM DUNK in spring 2027 has been announced. Another sports series is Blue Lock, whose live-action film has reached the milestone of one billion yen.
Whether the current Street Rivals event is also available outside the Japanese version is not explained in the published information.