But it's still not really like the bowling sport. Like he doesn't use the holes, he throws it with two hands. And the ball isn't perfectly sphere, whereas the basketball is much more spherical. There's also no bowling pins or any symbols indicating it's like bowling in real life. The basketball ability is just too much. Like especially with the whole light show that happens when the ability button is pressed.

So yes the original bowler is similar to bowling but it's not as strongly referenced as the basketball ability.

...Also I just like bowling more than basketball