Update: Air Bud Returns Acknowledges Original Dog Buddy Is Canonically Dead

Air BudAir Bud ReturnsAir Bud Returns Acknowledges Original Dog Buddy Is Canonically DeadAin’t no rule that says a basketball-playing dog can’t die.By Jim VejvodaUpdated: Apr 14, 2026 10:59pm UTC20 commentsAir Bud is dead.

Long live Air Bud!The first footage from Air Bud Returns was screened at CinemaCon on Tuesday, revealing that this movie – the 15th entry in the long-running franchise – is a series reboot set within the continuity of the earlier films.

The footage reveals that the canonical golden retriever Buddy of the original Air Bud films is dead, as acknowledged by a memorial statue of him with a basketball that’s been erected in the town of Fernfield.

The canine protagonist of Air Bud Returns is a stray golden retriever who lives in Fernfield.

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Jacob Morgan (Aydin Artis) – an adolescent boy with a physical disability that requires him to use a wheelchair – comes to take care of this stray, whom he calls Buddy.

Jacob is the son of one of the kids from the team depicted in the original Air Bud movies.

Jacob has moved to his father’s hometown of Fernfield after his dad died.

Jacob is also the grandson of a former pro basketball player named Jake Morgan (Edwin Lee Gibson), who becomes part of the staff of Jacob’s school basketball team, the Fernfield Timberwolves.Jacob watches old videotapes of the original Air Bud and his dad’s team with his new dog, who is inspired to become a basketball player like his namesake.

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For the franchise’s producer and Air Bud Returns writer-director Robert Vince, acknowledging the death of the canonical Buddy “makes total sense” for the story he’s telling here.Air Bud Returns ImagesView 6 Images“I think that now, more story-wise, I'm always wanting to ground our stories in reality, right? I know it's not reality, but grounded in reality.

So that has a mythical kind of magical whimsicalness to it, but not fairyland,” Vince told me in a chat backstage.

“For me, families want to have something grounded in reality ## Editor's Note This announcement has sparked considerable discussion among gamers. Source: [IGN](https://www.ign.com/articles/air-bud-returns-acknowledges-original-dog-buddy-is-canonically-dead)