I have spent my life wanting my father to get me. Challenges with my mental health, existential unease, and the restless ache of becoming a man have often obscured my efforts, warping my reflection in his eyes. Through seasons of fracture and reconciliation, basketball became the language we both speak fluently, and a pathway to opening up about fears, feelings, and the things we might otherwise struggle to say.Texas high school basketball, to be specific. My dad and I have attended the University Interscholastic League boys tournament almost every year since 2004. We’ve seen countless teams—the Warriors of South Grand Prairie, the Panthers of Duncanville, and the Golden Bears of South Oak Cliff, in South Dallas, where I grew up—play the sport we love with…