Basketball is a game often compared to jazz, with its improvisation and ebb and flow. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the sport in the birthplace of jazz, especially when one All-Star in particular, New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul, plays like Coltrane.

When I showed up for my first practice in New Orleans, I was prepared for a lot—but the absence of basketball hoops still caught me by surprise.

“Basketball is like its own crazy language, you dig?” said coach Byron Scott, peering out from under a porkpie hat and puffing on a hand-rolled cigarette.  He added: “Scoobidy beep bam bop.”

Chris Paul entered the gym, balancing a basketball with a cricket bat and hopping on one foot.  As various Hornets looked on in interest, the vacant-eyed Paul did a somersault, kicked the ball up at the rafters, and commenced removing all of his clothing.

Said an unimpressed Peja Stojakovic: “That cat needs to learn to play with some dynamics.”

Tags: sports, basketball, byron scott, new orleans jazz, jazz, chris paul