Teenager Jim Carroll is a drug-addicted high school basketball player who regularly gets into mischief with his friends Pedro, Mickey, and Neutron on the streets of New York City and at school.

In the Fall of 1963, a 16-year-old Jim is picked to be on his first real basketball team. He lives on the lower east side of New York City and spends his time with friends from the basketball team, committing petty crimes and experimenting with drugs.