DESCRIPTION:
Hanamichi SakuragiFrom a flash back we learn that his father died from a heart attack. Sakuragi got into a fight again with a few guys, when he got home and found his father on the floor, he went to get a doctor but the guys he had just beaten up blocked his way after getting some reinforcements. Sakuragi probably couldn't get a doctor for his father in time...
He has four very good friends with which he forms the Sakuragi Gang. They are Yohei Mitoi, Sauichiro Omachu, Anozumi Hakami and Yuji Ookuzu. They have known each other since Junior High and have a bad reputation. Sakuragi has been rejected by 50 girls in his Junior High time, when he meets Akagi Haruko at Shohoku High he immediately falls in love again. And since Haruko is a great b-ball fan he joins the b-ball team to please her. But soon he finds out that he really has talent and loves the game very much. The game kept him from the streets a lot and changed his personality.