Arab News Japan

The New Orleans Pelicans basketball star Zion Williamson announced a collaboration with Nike’s Jordan brand and the Japanese manga series Naruto.

Williamson took to social media to tease the upcoming partnership on April 23, where he mentioned his excitement for the collection and how it is inspired by their “parallel paths of overcoming diversity.”

The post included a picture of Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist of the manga series, preforming a basketball move adjacent to a silhouetted Jumpman logo.

This was subsequently confirmed by the Jordan brand on Tuesday, who tweeted a video of the shoes in the collection placed on a vintage television with the Naruto logo on the screen. It also included a quote from Williamson.

“Two of my childhood favorites — Michael Jordan and then Naruto. Both were able to collaborate and bring my vision to life. You can’t make this stuff up. You have no idea how much this means to me.”@Zionwilliamson x @Naruto_Anime_EN collection coming soon. Believe it. pic.twitter.com/1PqWo0a0OC

— Jordan (@Jumpman23) April 26, 2022

“Two of my childhood favorites — Michael Jordan and then Naruto. Both were able to collaborate and bring my vision to life. You can’t make this stuff up. You have no idea how much this means to me.  @Zionwilliamson x @Naruto_Anime_EN collection coming soon. Believe it,” the tweet said.

The collection will be his first signature basketball shoe with the brand and will be available in three colourways of the Jordan Zion 1 including orange and yellow, white and black, and red and black, each of which is inspired by different characters.

The Williamson and Naruto Jordan Zion 1 will be priced at $130 and are expected to be released within a couple of weeks, according to Hypebeast, although no set release date has been revealed by the brand.