Elliott Hersch is given a basketball on his tenth birthday and cuts a deal with his disapproving father: if he makes straight As, he is allowed to play, and he goes on to become one of the finest high school basketball players in New York. His father's one piece of advice about life is: Tell the truth, always. A quote from Chaucer, his father's favourite writer, guides both father and son; 'Trouthe is the hyest thing that man may kepe.' What he finds at the USA and then the NBA is a far cry from untarnished 'trouthe.' Elliott is challenged at every turn, tangling at the end of the day with what is most true: the game. Can Elliott truly play basketball? And if not, what is left of his life?