Anyone who knows basketball and jazz can see the relationship between the two pursuits: a marriage of form and improvisation, of individualism with teamwork; a primacy of rhythm (it’s all about tempo); and a requirement that players respond to one another’s choices and to rapidly changing situations in real time. Just as Kareem Abdul-Jabar was famous for listening to artists like Sonny Rollins before games, Wynton Marsalis has famously gone on record to describe is fondness for roundball. Recently, he spoke with the New York Times about the connections between his two loves:

“The most successful improvisation happens like the most successful ball when every person really knows the function of those plays from their perspective. We’ve seen great ball players, but I don’t think we’ve seen individual brilliance at every position. That would be an unbeatable team. That like the John Coltrane quartet.”

(video via New York Times)