Marco resolves to become involved in athletics so his largely absent father will finally take pride in him.

Isaac runs hard to beat Byron on the track and throws up all over Coach Chavez's shoes.

Nick and Ryan misunderstand Marco's basketball comments and nickname him Mugs after the famously short player Muggsy Bogues.

Isaac's father arrives over an hour late to pick Isaac up from the nurse's office, clearly drunk.

Marco spends hours shooting at Isaac's hoop but cannot make a single basket despite endless attempts.

Isaac and Dos Equis struggle over a phone, causing Dos Equis to fall and badly injure his leg.

Isaac suggests Marco shoot the ball granny style, and Marco makes his very first successful basket.

Marco climbs through Isaac's window in a panic attack after being unable to solve a math problem.

Isaac stays up through the night completing Marco's math homework instead of finishing his own.

Marco successfully guards Isaac multiple times during basketball tryouts, impressing Coach Chavez and everyone watching.

Coach Chavez kicks Byron off the basketball team after learning about Byron's ongoing bullying of Marco.

Isaac's mother wakes him to say his father has been in a serious drunk-driving car accident.

Isaac's father wakes in the hospital, confesses his alcohol addiction to Isaac and his wife, and promises to do better.

Marco misses his first free throw but then shoots granny style and ties the championship final.

Marco passes to Isaac, and Isaac sinks a shot at the buzzer to win the tournament championship.

Isaac and Marco begin middle school each determined to change — Isaac to improve his grades and Marco to become an athlete so his absent father will finally be proud of him. Marco earns the nickname Mugs and sets his sights on the basketball team, while Isaac accidentally injures his new friend Dos Equis and carries the guilt all day. Isaac secretly coaches Marco through his many struggles until Marco finally learns to shoot, and the two sacrifice sleep helping each other through a midnight homework crisis. Marco earns a place on the team, and Byron's bullying costs him his own spot when Coach Chavez finds out. A devastating blow arrives when Isaac's father is badly hurt in a drunk-driving accident, forcing long-overdue honesty about addiction and family. In the tournament final, Marco ties the game with a granny-style free throw before Isaac seals the championship with a buzzer-beater shot.

The core story of two best friends chasing their dreams

Marco meets three new classmates, Oscar, Jorge, and Orlando, in Mr. Slaughter's class and feels better about middle school.

Isaac meets Alexxander, known as Dos Equis, and the two discover they both plan to try out for basketball.

Isaac sits with Marco's scholarly new friends at lunch but feels out of place and slips away before the bell.

Byron and his friends carry Marco bundled inside a sweatshirt like a baby in front of other students after PE.

Coach Chavez announces in the PE locker room that basketball tryouts will be held the following week.

Isaac's father shows Isaac his new apartment stocked with a large television and a fridge full of snacks.

Marco's doctor diagnoses an acute finger contusion and tells Marco not to practice basketball for at least a week.

Isaac's grandmother needs a doctor and Isaac's drunk father cannot come, so Isaac spends the evening at Marco's house.

Marco hides in a school bathroom stall through all of first period to secretly finish Isaac's incomplete homework.

Marco accidentally leads the school principal to believe he had diarrhea all first period and is given a permanent bathroom pass.

Isaac's father takes Marco and Isaac out for burgers to celebrate both boys making the basketball team.

The basketball team roster is posted, confirming that both Marco and Isaac have earned spots on the team.

Coach Chavez presents Marco with a jersey bearing Muggsy Bogues' number before the tournament begins.

Several Mendez teammates drink tainted watermelon juice and fall seriously ill just before the championship final game.

Marco gives the tournament trophy to Isaac and announces he plans to join the robotics team after all.

From the first day of middle school, Isaac and Marco settle into new friendships and uncomfortable social situations while Byron's bullying casts a shadow over both boys. Isaac bonds with Dos Equis over basketball while Marco finds his tribe in Mr. Slaughter's class, though Marco turns down the robotics club to chase his athletic dream. Isaac's father tries to show his love by stocking a new apartment with snacks and a big television, revealing the tender and complicated nature of their bond. The boys juggle doctors' orders, accidental principal misunderstandings, and a round of tainted tournament juice that nearly costs them the championship. After both make the team, Manuel takes them out to celebrate, and a roster posting confirms that the boys' hard work paid off. By the end, Marco hands the trophy to Isaac and announces he is joining robotics, showing that he has finally found what truly fulfills him.

The supporting moments and relationships that shape the story

Byron taunts Marco during PE laps about his backpack, prompting Isaac to sprint ahead and try to humiliate Byron.

Nick and Ryan confront Byron after class and stop him from continuing to humiliate Marco in front of other students.

Marco decides he will learn basketball and try to earn a spot on the school team before tryouts.

Isaac asks to go to his drunk father's apartment instead of home so his father gets off the road quickly.

Marco climbs into Isaac's bedroom and Isaac confesses that it hurts to feel like such a disappointment to his family.

Isaac learns from Nick and Ryan that Marco plans to try out for basketball and secretly resolves to help him.

Marco ignores his doctor's advice and immediately resumes practicing basketball after leaving the medical appointment.

Isaac realizes Marco has real potential as a defensive player and begins teaching him how to guard an opponent.

Marco wakes to discover Isaac asleep at his desk, having stayed up all night solving Marco's impossible math problem.

Isaac makes a list of Marco's basketball strengths and devises plays designed to funnel Marco to the free throw line.

Marco feels deep jealousy and sadness watching Isaac and his father's warm, easy relationship during the celebration dinner.

Isaac breaks down crying at the hospital and confesses to his mother that he rode in the car with his drunk father.

Isaac's grandmother tells Isaac his father's drinking stems from unresolved grief and warns that some situations offer no second chances.

Marco decides to re-enter the championship final game despite being badly embarrassed during his first tournament appearance.

Marco turns down his father's post-tournament dinner invitation and proposes they instead meet after the robotics championship.

From the moment Byron's bullying ignites Isaac's competitive instincts and Marco resolves to prove himself through athletics, the story is propelled by a series of pivotal choices and emotional breakthroughs. Isaac decides to secretly help Marco make the team, coaching him through defensive drills even as Marco pushes through pain and ignores his doctor's advice. A midnight math crisis reveals how deeply the boys rely on each other, with Marco waking to discover Isaac spent the whole night solving an impossible problem on his behalf. After his father's accident, Isaac must confess his own role in a dangerous night and hear hard truths about grief and addiction from his grandmother. In the tournament final, Marco makes his bravest choice yet — returning to the court after public humiliation — and finally shoots for himself rather than for anyone else's approval. When Marco turns down his father's dinner invitation after the game, both boys understand that the most important opinion of themselves is their own.