The National Basketball Association (NBA), National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), and Dapper Labs (the creator of blockchain-powered CryptoKitties) are working together to develop a new crypto collectibles game called “NBA Top Shot”.
Dapper Labs is the company that CryptoKitties, one of the world’s most popular blockchain games. In this game, each CryptoKitty is “a collectible digital art form represented as a non-fungible tokens (NFT) created, managed, and traded through blockchain programs known as smart contracts.” CryptoKitties runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Dapper Lapps is backed by top venture capital firms a16z, USV, GV, and Digital Currency Group (DCG).
The NBA is “a men’s professional basketball league in North America,” and “is widely considered to be the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world.” The NBA “has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 100,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents.” The NBPA is the union for current professional basketball players in the NBA.
According to the NBPA’s announcement, the new digital platform and game that Dapper Labs wants to develop for the NBA and the NBPA will allow fans to buy, own, and trade “exclusive digital NBA collectibles on blockchain.” These digital collectibles are comprised of “some of the greatest moments in league history.”
Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs, said:
The NBA and its players are among the greatest heavyweights in global culture. Dapper Labs is proud to work with the NBA and NBPA to create an unparalleled digital experience for sports fans. Through NBA Top Shot basketball fans can engage with their favorite players, teams, and each other in entirely new ways. We use the latest in blockchain technology to create assets and experiences that are guaranteed limited edition and authentic, not to mention portable and permanent in a way nothing digital has ever been before.
NBA Top Shot will have “a social experience built around digital collectibles” and “a complementary head-to-head game designed to create a fun, authentic and accessible fan engagement on blockchain.” As with other fantasy sports games, the game’s players are engaged in building their ideal team with the rosters built by “acquiring live in-game moments from the NBA season.” An example of such moments is Kevin Durant’s 3-point shot.
These moments are purchased as tokens (digital collectibles), which could then “either owned forever or used to compete against other players in online tournaments and leagues on-chain.”
Adrienne O’Keeffe, NBA Senior Director, Consumer Products and Gaming Partnerships, had this to say:
Dapper Labs’ innovation and expertise make them a perfect partner to introduce this groundbreaking game and what we believe will become coveted digital collectibles for basketball fans around the world.
NBA Top Shot’s collectibles experience is expected to go live this fall, and the game should be launched sometime early next year.
Featured Image Credit: Photo via Pexels.com
