Summary

The book is split into sections that correspond with the quarters of a basketball match. The first sections is titled “Pregame”. Abdurraqib begins by addressing the reader directly as “you” and writes that he wants to begin the book by discussing “our enemies” (3), by which he means anyone who views the black cultural milieu of Ohio through a lens of hostility, suspicion, or violence. He reminisces about his father enjoying meals when he was growing up, particularly the beads of sweat that would appear on his bald head as he was eating. He reflects on his appreciation for his father’s baldness, and compares it to a quote from the singer James Brown, who once said, “Sometimes, you like to let your hair do the talking” (7).

Abdurraqib recounts the rise of a group of black basketball players known as the Fab Five: Chris Webber...