Chapter 1 to 4 Summary

The beginning of "Balls Don't Lie" is an introduction to the world of Lincoln Rec, the public gym that does double duty as a basketball court and a homeless shelter. It has a "court that accommodates the fearless" and another one that "houses the homeless". Throughout the novel, Lincoln Rec is portrayed as a kind of idyllic basketball paradise, where the same bunch of idiosyncratic though likeable characters gather to indulge their passion. Sometimes they get into fights and scrapes, sometimes the place feels squalid and nasty, but it's one of those all-male preserves where guys treat each other with a tenderness and affection despite their external toughness. Sticky emerges as a unique character, a troubled youth whose OCD requires him to repeat various motor activities like tying his drawstrings or spitting. Through flashbacks to Sticky's childhood, we learn that Sticky...