Top 19 Basketball manga you should read right now. [2024 List]

19. Slam Dunk

Winning isn't everything in the game of basketball, but who wants to come in second? It takes dedication and discipline to be the best, and the Shohoku High hoops team wants to be just that. They have one last year to make their captain's dream of reaching the finals come true--will they do it? Takehiko Inoue's legendary beloved basketball manga is finally here and the tale of a lifetime is in your hands.

Hanamichi Sakuragi's got no game with girls--none at all! It doesn't help that he's known for throwing down at a moment's notice and always coming out on top. A hopeless bruiser, he's been rejected by 50 girls in a row! All that changes when he meets the girl of his dreams, Haruko, and she's actually not afraid of him! When she introduces him to the game of basketball, his life is changed forever...



Included one-shot:
Volume 31: Slam Dunk: 10 Days After

Slam Dunk has finished publishing and it has 276 Chapters. It is also Known as: SLAM DUNK, Slam Dunk

18. Ahiru no Sora

He’s short, weak, and has just transfered to a new school. Kurumatani Sora is the main character in this story who loves basketball. He has been shooting hoops ever since he was little and has been trying to grow tall just like his mother, who “used” to be a basketball player. What has happened to her and what Sora is going to do at the new school is all up to you to find out!

Ahiru no Sora is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: あひるの空, Ahiru no Sora

17. Real

A motorcycle accident, bone cancer, a speeding truck crashing into a boy on a stolen bicycle—tragic life-changing events turn the worlds of three young men upside down. These three very different personalities have only one thing in common—their passion for basketball.



Note: Won an Excellence Prize for manga at the 2001 Japan Media Arts Festival.

Real is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: リアル, Real

16. Kuroko no Basket

Teikou Middle School basketball club: an incredibly strong team with over one hundred members and three consecutive championship wins. Amongst their brilliant record, was a generation of five prodigies known as the "Generation of Miracles." However, there was a strange rumour concerning the Generation of Miracles about one more player recognized by the five prodigies... a Phantom Sixth Player.

When Kagami Taiga joins Seirin High School's basketball team, he meets Kuroko Tetsuya, a horrendously bad player. Kagami is shocked to find out that Kuroko is the rumored sixth man of the Generation of Miracles. Not only is Kuroko terrible at everything from dribbling to shooting, he lacks so much presence on the court that at times people even forget he's playing. But during games Kuroko uses that lack of presence to his advantage, specializing in passing the ball to stronger players. In order to become the best player in Japan, Kagami agrees to team up with Kuroko to defeat the other members of the Generation of Miracles.



Note: Chapter count includes Chapter 62.5 "Tip Off."

Kuroko's Basketball has finished publishing and it has 276 Chapters. It is also Known as: 黒子のバスケ, Kuroko no Basuke, The Basketball Which Kuroko Plays

15. Ikemen Sugi desu Shiki Senpai!

When Hinami bumps into an older girl named Shiki, she falls head over heels. Shiki is sexy, easygoing, and has an amazing undercut. In order to get closer to Shiki, Hinami starts lurking around the basketball club. But though Hinami's crush is obvious to everyone else, it goes right over Shiki's head. When Hinami tries to confess her feelings to Shiki, Shiki thinks Hinami wants to become the club manager! Can Hinami get Shiki to understand her true feelings?



Note: The chapter count includes two extra stories.

The Girl I Want is so Handsome has finished publishing and it has 12 Chapters. It is also Known as: イケメンすぎです紫葵先パイ！, Ikemensugi desu Shiki-senpai!, Shiki-senpai Is Too Handsome, Ikemen Sugidesu Shiki-senpai!

14. Saye

I wish to have you by my left shoulder, with a smile by my right-- I wish to run freely in your eyes-- I wish for one look to last a lifetime. Jiang Cheng, an accomplished student, was "exiled" to the steel mill where his biological father worked. This strange, foreign environment, coupled with his rather vulgar biological father, caused Jiang Cheng to feel quite depressed... that is, until one day, he met Gu Fei, the "Delinquent of the Steel Mill", by chance. Thus begins the story of Jiang Cheng and Gu Fei, a story of salvation and hope...

Source: MU

Saye is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: Act Wildly, Run Freely

13. Garbage Time

A new coach is appointed to the basketball team of Jisang High School, one of the weakest in the country.

Garbage Time has finished publishing and it has 200 Chapters. It is also Known as: 垃圾时间, 垃圾時間

12. Switch

Switch is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: switch, Switch

11. Tsubame Tip Off!

A new highschool student with a complex about her height - Tsubame. Being unathletic and clumsy she seeks to join a cultural club, and despite her height she gives off the persona of a small and shy girl. Enter her upperclassman, Ibis, a small girl with a big presence, who suddenly invites her to the basketball club?!

Tsubame Tip Off! has finished publishing and it has 50 Chapters. It is also Known as: つばめティップオフ！, Tsubame Tippuofu!

10. Into The Net!

Lu Yi Fan, a dedicated basketball player, has successfully graduated from his delinquent-filled middle school and entered high school believing that he has escaped from the terrors of delinquents. But who would have known that the basketball team in his new school was composed of juvenile delinquents?

(Source:MU)

Into The Net! is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: В кольцо!

9. Winning Pass

Haruto Ichinose's older brother, Shori Ichinose, is smart, popular, and a basketball prodigy, too. Although Haruto says he hates basketball, he secretly trains on his own to challenge his brother, only to be beaten back each time. Conversely, Shori seems to believe in Haruto's "talent" more than anyone else, but what is Haruto's true ability...?

Winning Pass is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: ウイニング パス, Winning Pass

8. Deep3

Demian Kawai, who grew up being told by his mother that he is the son of a famous basketball player, became a member of a basketball team. Demian's abilities have earned him the respect of those around him, but after an injury and the mistake in a game, he has lost his confidence. Although he tries his best to rehabilitate himself, Demian suddenly feels as if his upper body is frozen while playing. When he consulted a doctor, he was told that it was a symptom of the "yips". This is a "rise after the fall" story.

Deep3 is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: ディープスリー, Deep3

7. Slam Dunk: 10 Days After

In 2004, Inoue produced an epilogue titled Slam Dunk: 10 Days After, which was drawn on 23 chalkboards in the former campus of the defunct Misaki High School located in the Kanagawa Prefecture, and was held for public exhibition for three days between December 3 and 5. The epilogue, along with coverage of the event, was reprinted in the February 2005 issue of Switch magazine.

Slam Dunk: 10 Days After has finished publishing and it has 1 Chapters. It is also Known as: あれから10日後, Slam Dunk: 10 Days After, Slam Dunk: 10 Days After That, あれから10日後

6. Second Break!!

Mochimi Komine enrolled in the prestigious Daishin Academy to pursue his dream of playing in the NBA, but soon after entering school, he suffered a serious injury that ended his playing career. Nine years later, Mochimi, who has given up on his dream, was informed that his former teammate, Okido, has made his debut in the NBA. "If only I hadn't been injured so badly that day," he said with regret. That night, Mochiumi got into a car accident that sent him back to his high school days before his injury.

Second Break!! has finished publishing and it has Chapters. It is also Known as: セカンドブレイク!!, Second Break!!

5. Natsume-senpai ni Semarareru Hibi

For Kaho, a man's muscles are all that matters. She's sports-agnostic, type-agnostic—all she cares about are that those abs, pecs, biceps and delts look good. She thinks she's found her perfect Muscle Prince in Natsume-sempai...that is, until he finds out what a muscle-freak she is. But instead of ridiculing her, he instead suggests she becomes manager of the basketball team—the one he just so happens to be on? For a muscle-lover like Kaho, there's nothing to lose...and everything to gain.

Getting Closer to You is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: 棗センパイに迫られる日々, 君の☓☓を食べたい, 被枣学长奴役的日子, 나츠메 선배가 다가오는 나날

4. Tonde Hi ni Iru Natsu to Mushi

Brand new high school first year Mizuhara has but one goal: to quit the sport of basketball he's played for so long! Yet, the very opponent that incinerated his dreams is stopping at nothing to keep him in the game.

Tonde Hi ni Iru Natsu to Mushi has finished publishing and it has 1 Chapters. It is also Known as: 飛んで火にいる夏と蛍〈むし〉, Summer and Insects in the Fire's Flight, 飛んで火にいる夏と虫

3. Aoba no Basket

Taiki Aoba, a 195cm tall junior high student, gets treated like a "mutant" when he plays basketball with other boys because of his physique. He was starting to doubt his "self" when he met Leo, the star of Japan's U16 national team. He told Taiki that his true weapon was not his height, but his "eyes," the talent to make the split-second decisions 1-on-1. Taiki was drawn to the freedom of basketball that Leo talked about, which does not judge a player by just his height. Now with a dream to surpass Leo, Taiki enters Aorei High School, a top basketball school in Tokyo!

Aoba no Basket is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: アオバノバスケ, Aoba's Basketball, Aoba no Basketball

2. switch

switch is currently publishing and has Chapters. It is also Known as: switch (NAMIKIRI Atsushi)

1. NBA Story

Serialized in Monthly Shonen Jump, the story consisted of three story arcs depicting real-life events from the American pro basketball league, the National Basketball Association. The Lakers arc featured Magic Johnson. The Bulls arc featured Michael Jordan. And the Suns arc featured Charles Barkley.

NBA Story has finished publishing and it has 19 Chapters. It is also Known as: エヌビーエーストーリー, NBA Story