"This is why people love basketball." Dragon Hoops review

When I was a boy, one summer I went to a summer camp which had a basketball net set up. I played around with the basketball, usually alone. A counselor who must have surmised that I had low self-esteem tried to encourage me in the sport and I got to think that I was okay at it -- but once I saw how much better my classmates at school were at basketball, I keep away from it. In retrospect, I should have asked my parents for a basketball and played it on my own time just for fun. I regret that I've never been very good at any competitive sports.

Which brings me to Gene Luen Yang's new graphic novel Dragon Hoops. I heard the book was nominated for some awards so I signed out a copy from my library knowing nothing about it other than the author and title. But then, Yang is an author I already enjoyed. Years earlier I bought his American Born Chinese based on good word-of-mouth. A few years later when I audited a university course on graphic novels, American Born Chinese was one of the textbooks and the professors brought to light a lot of elements from the novel which I hadn't noticed on my own. (Yang's The Shadow Hero was a fun read too; I reviewed it here)

Hoop Dragons is something of a memoir book with Yang as the lead character. He depicts his own unathleticism (which I empathize with) but, while searching for a topic for his next graphic novel, Yang becomes interested in the basketball team at the Catholic high school where he teaches. This 400+ page tome features Yang's investigation of the sport, taking the time to explain the history of basketball while Yang tries to better understand the members of the Dragons and follows them through the year until they enter the state championship game. At the same time, Yang recounts how DC Comics were courting him to write Superman, but he wasn't certain he should take the assignment after hearing DC's editors gleefully describe how 'Superman isn't Superman' anymore.

Even with my lack of athleticism, I've enjoyed plenty of films about sports -- the triumph of the underdog is always a strong subject, whether it's Rocky, Creed, Remember the Titans or Mean Machine. It's amazing how often these 'underdog stories' play out in real life. Perhaps it's a matter of perspective -- the Dragons' lineup includes the single strongest ranked high school player in the nation -- but the book frequently shows the team's failures. Even some of their victories are tarnished as spectators opine the Dragons lack teamwork. But Yang had no idea when he began the book that he would be following them to their eventual victory.

As someone who gave up a career in comics because I thought my permanent position in a school was a much more secure future, I couldn't believe Yang gave up his teaching job to toil in comics. I understand that he felt he had to follow his passions and go 'all in', but man, in comics you have to fight for every paycheque and there is an infinite number of wannabes who want your job. However much teaching pays in the USA, it still has to be better than becoming another disposable DC Comics writer.

Yang's questionable career goals aside, I highly recommend this book! It will probably be best enjoyed by teenagers but you don't have to like basketball in order to fall under the book's spell.