Rez Ball

Rez Ball (2023), a work of young adult sports fiction, is the debut novel of American Indigenous author Byron Graves. The book won several major honors, including the William C. Morris Award and the American Indian Youth Literature Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. The story follows Tre Brun, a sophomore basketball player on the Red Lake Indian Reservation who lives in the shadow of his late brother, Jaxon, a revered former star. After Jaxon’s teammates are suspended, Tre gets an unexpected chance to play on the varsity team, where he must navigate immense community expectations, family grief, and racial tensions while trying to lead his team to its first-ever state championship. The novel explores themes such as The Burden of Family Legacy, Resisting Oppression Through Community Bonds and Pride, and The Process of Grieving and Healing Through Connection.

The story centers on the cultural phenomenon of “rez ball,” a fast-paced, improvisational style of basketball that is a source of pride and identity in many Indigenous communities. Against this backdrop, Graves examines the social and racial friction between Indigenous reservations and adjacent non-Indigenous towns, portraying the sport as a symbolic battleground where the community asserts its pride and resilience in the face of systemic prejudice.

This guide is based on the 2024 paperback edition published by Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature depictions of racism, substance use, graphic violence, cursing, and death.

Plot Summary

Tre Brun, a freshman on the junior varsity (JV) basketball team, watches the varsity regional championship game with his parents and best friends, Wes and Nate. The Red Lake Warriors play against Bemidji High School for their first-ever trip to the state tournament. The community is deeply invested, many wearing memorial shirts for Tre’s older brother, Jaxon, the team’s former star, who died in a car accident months earlier. The Warriors mount a comeback using “rez ball,” a fast-paced, flashy style of play, but lose by one point when a last-second shot by their point guard, Mason, misses. After the game, Tre is struck by the memory of waiting for Jaxon, a painful reminder of his family’s grief.

Four months later, Tre, now a rising sophomore, trains relentlessly on an outdoor court across from the cemetery where Jaxon is buried. Wes, an aspiring filmmaker, begins shooting a documentary about Tre’s journey to the NBA. Dallas Charnoski, a varsity starter and Jaxon’s former teammate, practices with Tre and invites him to a party. There, Mason confronts Tre, stating, “You’re no Jaxon” (19), and insists that no newcomer will break up their long-standing lineup. Dallas apologizes for Mason’s behavior, explaining his tough childhood, and offers Tre his support, seeing him as a connection to Jaxon.

Wes conducts the first on-camera interview for his documentary, and Tre outlines his goals of winning a state championship and making it to the NBA. Later, Tre, Wes, and Nate drive to the nearby city of Bemidji. On a wealthy, predominantly white road, the three friends are pulled over and racially profiled by the police due to their reservation license plates. The officers subject Nate to a field sobriety test and search the van despite finding no evidence of wrongdoing, leaving them shaken.

On the first day of his sophomore year, Tre meets Khiana, a new senior, when he accidentally spills a drink on her, and they connect while walking to their shared class. Khiana gives Tre her phone number, and they go for a drive to a beach on the reservation. When they pass the memorial marking the site of Jaxon’s accident, Tre shares his grief. They bond over their interests: Khiana shares her passion for cosplay, and Tre talks about his basketball aspirations. He gets home late, breaking his curfew, and his father expresses his fear for Tre’s safety on the roads.

Tre and Khiana grow closer. She reveals that she’s a “two-spirit” (one who expresses a variant gender role). On homecoming night, they skip the dance due to Khiana’s social anxiety, instead joining Wes and Nate for an online video game tournament, in which Khiana’s expert skills impress Wes. Later, they win the school’s “best couple’s costume” award at the Halloween dance, where Tre takes a drink from Dallas’s flask. Basketball tryouts begin with a grueling “boot camp” run by Coach Whitefeather. Tre excels and, on the final day, makes a game-winning play in a scrimmage against Mason.

The varsity roster is posted, but Tre’s name isn’t on it; he’s devastated to be placed on the JV team again. Wes, Khiana, and Tre’s parents try to comfort him. A few days later, during an interview for Wes’s documentary, Coach Whitefeather calls. Mason and his brother, Mike, have been suspended for two games for underage drinking, and Coach asks Tre to suit up for varsity. His family is overjoyed.

At his first varsity practice, Dallas helps Tre study the team’s complex playbook. In his first game as a starter, Tre struggles with nerves and gets into early foul trouble, but finds his rhythm in the second half. The team then faces their rival, Bemidji. The game is intense, and Tre fouls out with a minute left, leading to a one-point loss. Afterward, Khiana comforts Tre but clarifies that because she’s moving to California after graduation, she only wants to be friends.

Coach Whitefeather keeps Tre as the starting point guard even after Mason and Mike return, causing tension. Tre leads the team on a winning streak, breaking the school’s single-game scoring record with 54 points and becoming a local star. The team begins partying and drinking regularly after games. Tre is jealous when he sees social media posts of Wes and Khiana spending time together. At a party, Tre gets drunk and confronts Wes. Their argument escalates into a physical fight, which Mason breaks up.

The next day at school, the athletic director, Mr. Thomas, reveals that he knows about the party but agrees to overlook the incident if the team promises to stop drinking until the season is over. Khiana confronts Tre about the fight, expressing her disappointment. Soon after, Slam magazine contacts Tre about a feature story on him and the team. At the photo shoot, the journalist reveals that the opportunity arose because Wes proactively sent the magazine trailer footage from his documentary. Overcome with guilt, Tre apologizes to Wes, and they reconcile. Wes shows him a video he made by splicing together clips of Tre and Jaxon, highlighting their identical playing styles.

During a Sunday morning workout, Tre and his dad have a heartfelt conversation. His dad expresses his pride and tells Tre to play for himself, not to live up to anyone else’s legacy. After winning the district championship, the team celebrates by drinking again. Feeling guilty, Tre organizes a team meeting at his house and asks his teammates to commit to sobriety for the rest of the playoffs. After initial hesitation from Mason, the entire team makes the pact.

In the regional championship game against Bemidji, the Warriors fall behind because their opponents know all their plays. At halftime, Tre suggests that they abandon the playbook and play rez ball. The change confuses Bemidji, and Red Lake storms back to win, securing the school’s first-ever trip to the state tournament. Before the game, Tre receives a recruitment letter from the University of Minnesota.

The team travels to Minneapolis for the state tournament at the Target Center. Their first-round opponent is the undefeated Crestview Christian Academy, led by Jacob Griffin, a seven-foot-tall superstar. The game is a back-and-forth duel between Tre and Jacob. In the fourth quarter, Tre severely injures his ankle. Despite the pain, he convinces Coach Whitefeather to let him play the final 90 seconds. He hits a three-pointer and is fouled, making the go-ahead free throw to put Red Lake up by one with two seconds left. On the final play, Jacob hits an impossible, buzzer-beating shot from beyond half-court, and Crestview wins. Though devastated, the team receives a standing ovation from the Red Lake community.

Three months later, as Khiana prepares to move to Los Angeles, she and Tre make peace and say goodbye. Tre, Wes, and Nate go to the bookstore to buy the issue of Slam magazine featuring Tre and the team. There, Tre sees a girl he likes. Encouraged by Nate, he asks her out, and she accepts. The novel concludes with the three friends playing a game of 21 on the reservation, their friendship restored.