Slam Dunk (スラムダンク suramudanku) is a 31 voume Japanese manga written by Takehiko Inoue about a basketball team from Shohoku (Shōhoku) High School.

It was so popular that many Japanese teenagers began playing basketball after it was published.

A 101-episode anime TV series was produced, as well as four animated movies. The anime follows the manga storyline with a few changes towards the end. The animated movies are separate stand-alone stories.

In Japan, the series was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump. The series was published in English in North America by Gutsoon Entertainment 's Raijin Comics until it went on hiatus in June 2004. In Singapore the manga is published in English by Chuang Yi. The Singaporean translation is imported to Australia by Madman Entertainment.

Plot

Japanese names are in Western order, with the given name before the surname name.

Its main character of this manga is Hanamichi Sakuragi (桜木花道 Sakuragi Hanamichi) who started out as an outcast who fights as a method to gain power and publicity. Haruko Akagi (赤木晴子 Akagi Haruko) is the girl of his dreams. Haruko, who recognizes Hanamichi's athleticism, introduces Hanamichi to the Shohoku men's basketball team. Hanamichi was reluctant to join the team at first due because he had no previous background in any sports and thought that basketball was a game for losers. Sakuragi however, is a natural athlete and joins the team in order to impress Haruko to prove that he is worthy of her. Kaede Rukawa (流川楓 Rukawa Kaede), also Sakuragi's bitter rival, the star rookie and a "girl magnet" joins the team at the same time. Mitsui Hisashi (三井 寿 Hisashi Mitsui) and Ryota Miyagi (宮城リョータ Miyagi Ryōta) also join the team and a struggle to complete team captain Takenori Akagi's (赤木剛憲 Akagi Takenori) dream of being the national champion. Together, these misfits gain publicity and the once little known Shohoku basketball team becomes an all-star contender in Japan.

Side fact/Rumors

Some of characters in Slam Dunk! resemble NBA players for example:

• Penny Hardaway
• Magic Johnson
• Michael Jordan
• Scottie Pippen
• Dennis Rodman

The teams:

• Boston Celtics
• Chicago Bulls
• Dallas Mavericks
• Los Angeles Lakers