NBA Unveils “The Association” NFT Collection for the Upcoming Playoffs

In line with the upcoming playoffs, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has started minting its latest Ethereum NFT collection dubbed “The Association” consisting of 18,000 tokens. The collection will feature 75 NFTs for each of the 240 players from the 16 teams that are participating in this year’s playoffs.

What sets these tokens apart, however, is that their traits will dynamically progress depending on each player’s performance. Every dunk, block, three-pointer, rebound, and assist will constitute a change in the NFT of a particular player. Team performance such as a series sweep, upset, or championship win will likewise affect the backgrounds and “frames” of the tokens.

The Association NFTs will be free to mint, according to its website. However, users will have to pay the gas fees on Ethereum. Some assets have also been reserved by the NBA for owners of NBA Top Shot NFTs, and tokens will also be limited to a maximum of one per wallet.

The NFT art is expected to be made available on OpenSea and other marketplaces on Friday, after the beginning of presale minting. Presale spots have already been filled and tokens will be issued in a blind mint, which means that users will not know who they’ve received before the official reveal. The NBA introduced the news following the launch of its Discord server — which now has close to 50,000 members — and a dedicated Twitter account with the handle “NBAxNFT.”

Interest in sports NFTs remains despite the slowdown observed in the general NFT market. Just last week, the NFT basketball game Swoops — backed by entrepreneur and internet personality Gary Vaynerchuck — secured $3.5 million during a funding round in an effort to develop the title on Polygon. The hype surrounding the NBA’s latest drop also heightened following its trademark application for “The Association” branding earlier this month.

Sources: Decrypt, Hypebeast