Throughout the story, Jonah views conflict in terms of sports. In Chapter 1, Jonah and Chip discuss how Jonah is adopted while playing basketball. This is the first instance of sports being present during conversation about adoption and the question of one’s true identity. Chip explains he was adopted in Jonah’s room, where there are many sports posters.

Jonah uses sports to illustrate how Katherine knows where she comes from while he does not. In Chapter 7, Katherine confesses she wonders who she is, but Jonah argues that her insecurity is not the same as his. He points out how Katherine has the same nose as their father, which Jonah compares to a ski slope. As Jonah comes to realize Katherine is his true family, the ski slope becomes a symbol of trust. Later, Jonah throws the Elucidator to Katherine with the ease of throwing a basketball, representing how Jonah accepts his adopted family as where he comes from.

How Jonah plays sports is often an indicator of his emotions. In Chapter 1, when Jonah is not concerned about the circumstances of his adoption, the basketball game he plays with Chip is leisurely. This supports his feeling that his quality of life is fine. Later, Katherine and Jonah discuss the conference for adopted kids while playing an unenergetic game of basketball. The lethargic game embodies their mutual wariness. When Jonah scores a basket he feels could have missed easily, he compares it to how the conference could easily be a trap—which, of course, it is. When Jonah tries to escape the closing cave, Gary tackles him, like in a football game (a sport Jonah dislikes).

Sports also represent inner conflict for Jonah. In several situations, Jonah likens his feelings (emotional or physical) to a sports experience. In Chapter 7, Jonah is distracted by the strange notes, and he gets hit on the head by a ball in gym class. In Chapter 17, Chip receives Angela’s request to meet in person, and Jonah feels like the world is spinning. He compares it to a time he got caught in a riptide and could not use a kick he learned in swimming classes to free himself. Jonah experiences oxygen deprivation due to panic after seeing Angela disappear in Chapter 21—the same feeling he gets after a soccer game. At the conference during Chapter 26, Jonah experiences a buildup of adrenaline, which reminds him of how he feels before a basketball game.