Content Warning: This section discusses a medical emergency that later results in death; it also alludes to mental illness and anti-Black police violence.

Rebound opens with a first-person narrator later revealed to be Charlie, or “Chuck,” Bell. In the opening lines, an adult Charlie reflects on how the summer of 1988 changed his life, introducing him to things like basketball and the Harlem Globetrotters but also bringing with it an unspecified tragedy.

The narrative jumps back to May 28, 1988. Charlie and his friend Skinny are admiring others playing basketball at the park. Skinny wants to join the game, but Charlie lies and says he wants to go home to eat.

Watching the people play at the park brings up a memory. Charlie thinks back to playing a basketball game of HORSE with his father and reveals his hesitation due to missing a pass and getting hit in the head.