The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Dapper Labs are teaming up to announce the launch of the blockchain-based collectibles platform NBA Top Shot.

According to the company, fans of the game can purchase, sell, and trade collectible seasonal actions such as "Kevin Durant's three-pointer" or "Joel Embiid's dunk," which can be used in on-chain games.

Similar to existing products like NBA 2K, Dapper's NBA Top Shot allows users to acquire players and build rosters in a specific way: by purchasing specific actions from the previous season.

Advertisement - Continue scrolling for more content

Dapper Labs' next-generation product comes two years after the launch of CryptoKitties, a blockchain-based game, and several months after the presale and release of the second major game, Cheese Wizardz.

The National Basketball Association has joined the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), a player's union founded in 1954. In this regard, NBPA's commercial executive, Josh Goodstadt, describes Dapper's product as "a fresh way for fans to connect with their favorite athletes."

Goodstadt stated:

We believe blockchain technology creates a truly unique product where fans can collect, manage, and engage in a fun environment.

NBA Top Shot Collectibles will launch this fall during the NBA regular season, with a full rollout in early 2020. According to an email, Dapper Labs stated that they are "working directly with the NBPA to ensure players benefit from the experience."

Dapper's product is not the first introduction of blockchain between sports and major leagues: the Cleveland Cavaliers recently signed with UnitedCoin as their official cryptocurrency, and last month the Miami Dolphins partnered with the Litecoin Foundation.

In previous games, we had in-game currency, loot, but these things only gave us the "experience" of it and were not easily tradable between games or even users. However, when we put physical items on the chain as virtual assets, we give them the value of being "owned" by users, with the right to trade, buy, sell, and manage, although this doesn't guarantee that the value of the item will always be maintained, blockchain games are indeed another breakthrough in the concept of virtual assets.

Related Reading

Join now to get the most comprehensive information on financial technology, blockchain insights, and industry examples!