The series tells the story of Hanamichi Sakuragi, a teenager who falls in love with Haruko Akagi after being rejected by 50 other girls. However, as Haruko is in love with Kaede Rukawa, a popular and talented basketball player, Sakuragi decides to join the Shohoku High School basketball team to surpass Rukawa and make Haruko fall in love with him. As he starts learning how to play basketball with Shohoku, Sakuragi starts liking the sport and becomes determined to be the best player. On the team, Sakuragi meets Haruko's older brother, Takenori Akagi, who is also Shohoku's captain, and two other player with a violent past which caused them to leave the sport some time ago, Ryota Miyagi, and Hisashi Mitsui. Together these five players help make Shohoku one of the best high school teams in Japan.