The speaker is an adolescent boy who plays basketball with intense focus. He views the court as a space for mythological heroics and a refuge from inner-city life. Alongside his friends, he uses the sport's physical exertion to process systemic dangers and personal confusion. He plays for both survival and the admiration of onlookers.

Sonny Boy is a young basketball player who channels his intense grief into the sport. Following the death of his mother, he plays the game with relentless, hard energy that splinters the wooden backboard. His reaction demonstrates how the young men rely on physical exertion to handle deep emotional pain.

Trouble is a menacing, personified force that threatens the boys on the court. Taking the form of an antagonistic authority figure—represented as a police officer with a weapon—Trouble embodies the systemic racism and physical violence looming over the young Black players' lives.

The boys are the speaker's fellow teammates and friends on the inner-city basketball court. They are lanky adolescents who view themselves as metaphysical beings when observed by cheering crowds. They use the game's repetitive cycles of falling and getting back up to cope with the vulnerabilities of their daily lives.

She is the mother of Sonny Boy. Her passing acts as the central tragedy that drives her son to play basketball nonstop. This loss represents the severe emotional pain the young men endure off the court.