Dragon Hoops

“I’ve hated sports ever since I was a little kid! Especially basketball.”

Here, the author and protagonist Gene Luen Yang introduces himself candidly and thoroughly. This comic panel shows Mr. Yang looking out at the audience, breaking the fourth wall. This quote, an example of direct characterization in the first person, helps the reader to understand Yang’s disposition. The reader will also note the irony that an individual who, by his own admission, hates sports will undertake to write a novel about a sports team.

“You tell everybody down in Southern California that Lou Richie’s about to bring the championship home for Northern California.”

These lines are spoken by the young Lou Richie within Yang’s chapter on “Coach Lou,” as he is called throughout the novel. The teenaged Lou Richie plays for the Bishop O’Dowd Dragons himself, and addresses himself to the announcers with these bombastic lines. His speech demonstrates his arrogance and self-assurance. The quotes become ironic when the team ends up losing the game owing to a call of goaltending.

“The next year, the Bishop O’Dowd Dragons made a push for State again. They didn’t make it. Lou went on to play in college, first at UCLA-- and then at Clemson, before a hamstring injury ended his career. He graduated with a degree in history.”

Yang writes these lines from his narration, which is characterized by text with a yellow panel background rather than a speech bubble. He gives this background to characterize his deuteragonist, a term used to refer to the second-most-important character in the story. The italics featured in the lines represent Yang’s realization that some characters are not what they seem; he stereotyped Lou as a jock, so he is rather surprised to learn that Coach Lou studied history.

“In November 1981, at the International Training School of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Springfield, Massachusetts, a thirty-year-old physical education teacher named James Naismith changed the world.”

Yang uses dramatic language to call the reader’s attention to the gravity of this historical moment. Although the reader does not know it yet, Yang will tell the story of basketball’s invention. With the expansion of the YMCA acronym, Yang educates his audience, especially his young adult readers might not know what or whom “YMCA” represents. Yang’s commitment to writing his novel with thorough journalistic practices gives his readers a comprehensive understanding of basketball’s early days.

“But eventually, because it required little equipment and no grass, the game [of basketball] was embraced in urban areas like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles…and Oakland.”

Yang here makes an important connection to the importance of space to the sphere of athletics. The readers will recognize the names of the big cities listed here, most of whom feature successful NBA teams. Also, the ellipsis used brings the quote to a two-page spread. This spread introduces Oakland, California, the book’s setting, in dramatic fashion.

“But how am I supposed to do this book if I can’t figure out the characters’ backstories?!”

Here, Mr. Yang is shown waving his arms wildly with a sponge in hand, doing dishes with his wife. These domestic settings are generally where Mr. Yang vents to or confides in his wife on matters of both personal and professional import to him. These lines reveal Mr. Yang’s mounting frustration that he cannot wrest more information from Coach Lou’s two star players, Ivan Rabb and Paris Austin. Yang uses these lines to present one of the book’s conflicts: his own approach to his writing craft. 

“Oh, come on! [The Dragons] don’t have to win for your book to work! You can write about how they played with courage. How they’ve created memories that will last the rest of their lives!”

These lines, spoken by Mr. Yang’s wife, characterize the latter as a voice of reason and close confidante to her husband, the protagonist and author. She assuages his anxiety and invites him to adopt new perspectives. One such perspective is that winning is not the only thing that matters, and another is the importance of approaching his professional craft of writing with courage, even in the face of an unknown outcome.

“Jackie Robinson was in the stands. The legendary baseball player was still a couple years away from breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier, but he’d already made a name for himself in the Negro League.”

These brief lines of narration, which figure in Yang’s chapter on the Harlem Globetrotters, are integral to giving his young adult readers a true sense of the racism that predominated in early athletics. Moreover, insofar as Jackie Robinson later became a legend as the first African American to play Major League Baseball, he represents the prevailing racist attitudes across sports categories. Moreover, the italics used to highlight “color barrier” introduce Yang’s readers to this important historical concept.

“Well…people have always been telling me what I could and could not do. I wanted to prove them all wrong.”

Coach Lou speaks these lines when telling Yang about his experience as a walk-on for UCLA’s college basketball team. These lines add depth to Coach Lou’s character as a teenager. Readers might note that, although Coach Lou has retained certain aspects of his personality), he does not tolerate in his players the same headstrong behavior that he himself exhibited as a teenager.

“‘Mr. Yang! I saw those sketches of us that you put on Tumblr! So dope! Ey, I got a favor to ask…can you fix my hairline?

Jeevin Sandhu addresses Mr. Yang with these lines. They help characterize Jeevin as a respectful and enthusiastic player while also reinforcing the metatextuality of Yang’s book. Readers are reminded that these players are real individuals who naturally have a vested interest in how they are portrayed in Yang’s memoir. Finally, these lines reveal that Yang (the author) released in-progress sketches of his subjects before the release of the book itself.

“FEWEST MISTAKES WINS!”

Mr. Yang’s speech bubble features all capital letters, as is typical in comic panels, to demonstrate that he is shouting. The reader will note a marked change in the attitude of Mr. Yang, who previously disavowed sports culture. The image of Mr. Yang standing up with his hands in the air works in tandem with the text to reveal this uncharacteristic behavior. Finally, Mr. Yang will question this recurring mantra later in the text.

“The players who got good minutes were shouting, celebrating…those who didn’t, not so much.”

Mr. Yang here comments on the post-game locker room atmosphere following the victory of the Bishop Gorman Gaels. Beneath the narration is a comic showing a handful of players who enjoyed less than one minute of playing time. Here, Mr. Yang invites the reader into an important space to which they would not be privy were it not for his book. Next, these lines present one of the novel’s several conflicts: A winning team requires sacrifice by even those who are not superstars.

“From now on you are not permitted to speak anything but English. You are not permitted to use the name Valvrojenski. We are now the Berensons. And you are not permitted to have anything to do with the Jewish religion.”

Senda Berenson’s father speaks these lines across three comic panels that recount the historical episode in which the future founder of women’s basketball steps off the plane from Russia. Within this single speech from Berenson’s father’s character, the important themes of anti-immigrant and antisemitic sentiment are demonstrated. These lines illuminate the experience of American immigrants in the 19th century, and they also invite the reader to evaluate the extent to which these once-prevalent prejudices persist to modern times. 

“‘Arinze, do you feel like you’ve learned anything growing up with your sister?’ ‘Man. What have I learned? To face bigger challenges.’”

Mr. Yang and current O’Dowd Dragon Arinze share this discussion in the company of his sister, Oderah, during her visit back from North Carolina where she plays for the UNC Tar Heels women’s basketball team. This is an important moment because it reveals that the intense sibling rivalry of this brother-sister pair is ultimately a positive force. More generally, the ultimately positive influence that Oderah has had on her brother, Arinze, is a testament to the importance of women’s basketball becoming mainstream.

“‘You a parent? The trainer?’ ‘No, I’m…the team tutor.’”

These lines feature the brief exchange between the security guard at the Orlando game in which the Dragons face the Montverde Eagles. The guard’s questions force Yang to identify himself. When at first he struggles to characterize his role with the team, which would grant him permission to enter the stadium, Yang must dissimulate. He, in turn, realizes just how unconventional, but important, his relationship with the O’Dowd Dragons has become.

“But you know what the great thing about comics is? The hero always wins. You can count on it.”

Spoken to his youngest daughter, these lines present Mr. Yang in his capacity as a father. He clearly invites his family into his professional life to an extent. However, these lines are not merely pithy expressions used to satisfy his daughter’s curiosity; they reveal an important feature of Yang’s own worldview before undertaking to write his book. He approaches his undertaking of Dragon Hoops with the perspective that there is always a single superhero who must always win. Yang’s experience with the Dragons will slowly teach him that not knowing the outcome is sometimes necessary, and that is what makes sports so entertaining.

“Early on, the Catholic schools were as poor as the communities they served. They didn’t have the same resources as their public and Protestant counterparts, so their programs needed a sport that required little equipment and no grass.”

Mr. Yang here gives his readers important details about the history of basketball. Because Catholic schools in the modern day—including Bishop O’Dowd—have reputations as well-appointed schools for privileged students from wealthy families, these details might not have been known to the modern reader. In addition to informing the reader that Catholic schools were not always wealthy, this quote also invites the reader to understand the space limitations of many athletics facilities and helps explain why basketball has become such a strong tradition in Catholic schools today.

“Before Mikan, goaltending—blocking a shot on its downward arc toward the basketball—was considered physically impossible. Mikan denied nearly a dozen of the Wildcats’ shots. The very next season, goaltending was declared illegal.”

These lines present the exceptional way in which Yang relates the history of basketball with the modern-day rules. These lines are made accessible to those unacquainted with basketball’s rules by defining the term “goaltending”. Also, these lines reinforce that basketball, like any athletic contest, has changed through the years, and Yang provides his readers with the reason for the rules that they now know and understand.

“The indoor gym is a bit like a sanctuary. Overhead banners, like stained-glass windows, remind adherents of the community’s past achievements. And much of what happens is determined by ritual. National anthem at the beginning, like an opening hymn. Sermon-like pep-talk in the middle. And handshakes—offerings of peace—at the end.”

These lines reveal Yang’s astute observation about the sport that has become the subject of his professional work. His former unfamiliarity with sports has afforded him a perspective that might not be shared by a lifelong sports enthusiast. These lines demonstrate Yang’s penchant for making a propos analogies.

“Everybody knows [Mahatma Gandhi] for his nonviolence stuff, but he’s the one who wanted the partition of India, driven by Winston Churchill and his planners. Biggest forced migration of all time. All in all, I think between 250,000 and 500,000 Sikhs were murdered.”

These lines are an important part of the novel because they present historical information to the reader that is, perhaps, surprising. These lines, on the one hand, add depth to the character of Jeevin Sandhu, a practicing Sikh, and they also disabuse readers of a one-dimensional portrait of the familiar history figure Gandhi. Lines such as these demonstrate the power of Dragon Hoops to impart important historical lessons within the modern, and more thrilling, basketball scenes.

“‘A strong nation is built by strong bodies’”

These lines are spoken by a Chinese missionary from the YMCA to a shorter, mustached Chinese man who looks at him with awe. The man holds a basketball, inviting the Chinese man to play this new Western sport. Such a speech represents the prevailing attitudes of Westerners during the 19th century as well as explaining to the reader how basketball was introduced in the part of the world that eventually produced such legends as Yao Ming and the Dragons’ own Alex Zhao.

“So you only want to go all in if you’re guaranteed a win?’

Mr. Yang’s wife jokingly chides her husband here in response to his admitted nervousness surrounding the release of his in-progress book, which would become Dragon Hoops. Spoken in the familiar setting of the family kitchen, these lines help to reinforce the characterization of Yang’s wife as being the voice of reason, as well as representing her as a sage-like archetype. They insist that Yang question his assumptions and take risks.

“‘The talk you had with Jeevin at the beginning of Chapter 11, for example, that never happened!’ ‘Yes, it did! It was just over text instead of in person!’”

This exchange between Yang’s wife and his own conscience is critical in revealing the extent of Yang’s anxiety surrounding his artistic craft. Although the text has previously been revealed as metatextual, these lines represent Yang’s bold step in having a character refer to a specific moment in the text, as well as an admission that Yang misrepresented an earlier circumstance with a view to improving his book. The reader is forced to think about the extent to which all literary and visual art is a deception.