Summer Ball

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2007

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Chapters 21-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 21 Summary

After the game, Danny finds out someone broke Tess’s camera, and he immediately suspects Lamar. Tess asks Danny why Lamar would be so mean and Danny tells her “‘[b]ullies do stuff like this because they can. They do it even if they’re as good at something as Lamar is at basketball’” (193). Danny comforts Tess; Lamar then taunts Danny about the camera as Danny practices, but Danny remembers his mother’s advice to not engage with a bully like Lamar.

Chapter 22 Summary

Danny tells Jeff LeBow about the camera; Lamar denies breaking the camera. Moreover, Lamar threatens to go to another elite basketball camp after these accusations. LeBow appeases him, telling Danny, “‘Fortunately, I got him calmed down’” (197). Upset, Danny urges LeBow to see Lamar for what he is, a bully, and “‘[a]nother guy in sports who’s a great player and a bad guy’” (198). LeBow, however, chooses to side with Lamar, given Lamar’s immense talent.

During a morning workout, Ty reminds Danny that taller guys have to worry about playing shorter guys, too. He tells Danny that once the ball comes down, he worries someone like Danny will take the ball from him. As the two practice, Danny focuses on getting at the ball before Ty (or someone of Ty’s height) can shoot above Danny’s head. After a while, Danny starts to match Ty’s excellent playing, with Danny frequently getting the ball from Ty.

With their record at six wins and six losses, the Celtics play their next game against Ty’s team, with many of the campers gathering to watch. For the first half, Danny watches as Cole, another Celtic, plays with Rasheed. Danny sees something Coach Powers fails to see, thinking, “Cole had no feel for the game. He had no imagination. Cole had tunnel vision. He could only see the offense or defense they were supposed to be running” (200). For Coach Powers, a robotlike Cole plays ideally.

Danny gets the opportunity to play guard with Rasheed in the second half of the game. The two play well together; Danny narrates, “If you looked at them, you might think they couldn’t be more different, and they couldn’t have come from more different backgrounds” (200). Rasheed and Danny play the same game, though—smart, clean basketball—and the Celtics start to gain ground in the game.

With fifteen seconds left in the game, Rasheed moves the ball toward their basket and passes to Danny. Danny, learning from his past mistakes, knows he must get the ball back to Rasheed. Though Danny wants to make the game-winning shot, he knows the best chance to clear the taller players lies with Rasheed’s height and skill. Danny sends Rasheed a pass, but Rasheed loses sight of the ball and misses the pass and the consequent easy lay-up. Rasheed points to himself, taking the blame for missing the shot, but Coach Powers yells at Danny until a voice stops him, interrupting to congratulate Danny. Josh Cameron, superstar basketball player and owner of Right Way, suddenly appears, cutting off Coach Powers to praise Danny’s ingenuity.

Chapters 21-22 Analysis

When Lamar breaks Tess’s camera, the camp caters to Lamar. Danny states it plainly: “Lamar got away with it, of course” (197). This “of course” sends the message to Danny that being a great basketball player trumps being a good person. He argues that Lamar acts the way he does because people allow for his bad behavior. Moreover, Danny recognizes a reality of the game he plays: superstars like Lamar get away with anything while hard-working players like himself bear the burden. This serves as a commentary on the game itself: when LeBow excuses Lamar, and even apologizes to ensure Lamar stays at his camp, he condones the lack of integrity people sometimes see in professional sports. Players get arrested, break the law, but get away with it because of their exceptional playing.

These chapters also demonstrate Danny’s knowledge of basketball. Danny stands in contrast to players like Cole and Lamar: even though these boys are bigger, Danny understands the game much better. A player like Cole just follows orders. Lamar, on the other hand, plays selfishly, only building up his offense. Danny learns every facet of the game, so he can act as player, coach, and play-maker. With a clear head, readers see Danny flourish in Chapter 22’s game: Danny even executes a clever pass that earns a compliment from the camp’s owner, basketball superstar Josh Cameron. Cameron and Danny see what the narrow-minded Coach Powers never will: great players improvise.