Random: Chicago Bulls Announce Upcoming NBA Schedule With A Classic Pokémon Tribute

We have just a few months to go before the NBA tips off in October and the teams are beginning to reveal their schedules for the 2023-24 season. Normally, this news is nothing to do with Nintendo — it’s just a bunch of sports teams posting images of their filled-in calendars — but the Chicago Bulls have caught our attention this year with their Pokémon-inspired announcement.

Instead of simply revealing the team’s upcoming dates, the Bulls have published their schedule in the style of Pokémon Red and Blue (check it out above). There’s no calendar in sight as Benny the Bull (the team mascot) rides a bike around a pixel art Chicago, visiting gyms and challenging any trainers that he comes across. These opponents are other familiar faces from around the league, with Benny & co. facing off against the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic and Lebron James, all in the style of a classic Pokémon battle.

How do you top that? We’re big fans of the attention to detail here, from the Game Boy-inspired music to the spot-on visuals and move animations — the players even have their own stats! Come on now…

The Bulls didn’t need to go that hard, but boy are we pleased that they did.

What do you make of this Pokémon-inspired announcement? Let us know in the comments.