| Hanamichi Sakuragi | |
|---|---|
| Slam Dunk character | |
 Hanamichi Sakuragi, as illustrated by Takehiko Inoue | |
| First appearance | Slam Dunk Chapter 1: "Sakuragi-kun" (桜木君) |
| Last appearance | Slam Dunk Chapter 276: "Shohoku High School Basketball Team" (湘北高校バスケットボール部, "Shōhoku Kōkō Basukettobōru-bu") |
| Created by | Takehiko Inoue |
| Voiced by | Japanese Takeshi Kusao (anime TV series) Subaru Kimura (The First Slam Dunk) English Robert Tinkler (anime TV series) Ben Balmaceda (The First Slam Dunk) |
Hanamichi Sakuragi (Japanese: 桜木 花道, Hepburn: Sakuragi Hanamichi) is the main protagonist of Slam Dunk, a sports manga written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue. Hanamichi Sakuragi is a delinquent very unpopular with girls, having been rejected an astonishing fifty times. In his first year at Shohoku High School, he falls for Haruko Akagi, who, upon recognizing Sakuragi's athleticism, introduces him to the Shohoku basketball team. Sakuragi is reluctant to join the team at first, but he proves to be a natural athlete and joins the team, mainly in the hopes of impressing and getting closer to Haruko.
The character was created as Inoue's self insert in the manga as, during his youth, Inoue started playing basketball to impress girls. In the anime series he is voiced by Takeshi Kusao in Japanese, and by Robert Tinkler in the English version. In the 2022 anime film The First Slam Dunk he is voiced by Subaru Kimura in Japanese, and by Ben Balmaceda in the English version.
Critical response to Sakuragi has been positive as a result of his development, characterization and growth into a more careful player who grows to care about his new career. He has also been used to promote related merchandise and appeared in several popularity polls of the series.