Arash Markazi, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Chris Paul chasing a ring ... in bowling

LOS ANGELES -- Chris Paul is standing at the edge of the lane and talking about the unyielding pursuit of his dream: a ring.

“I’ve never bowled a 300,” Paul said. “That’s my goal. If you bowl a 300, you get a ring. If you win a championship you get a ring so it’s kind of ironic that I ain't got neither one of them.”

Paul may be ringless in bowling and basketball but he's already an owner. Paul purchased L.A.X., a professional bowling team in the Professional Bowlers Association, two years ago. Jerome Bettis, Terrell Owens and Kevin Hart are other celebrity owners in the league, which features eight teams of five bowlers.

“As a team owner, I’m in-season so I can’t go to the matches as much as possible,” Paul said Thursday at the Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational Bowling Tournament in Torrance, Calif. “But T.O. goes and sees his team bowl. We’re putting the team together and it's fun. Because I’m out here in L.A. I named them the L.A.X. I follow them and see how they doing. I watch these guys all the time when they’re bowling all season long.”

Paul says he watches the PBA regularly and will watch Sunday’s PBA World Championship on ESPN after he’s done playing the Miami Heat Sunday afternoon.

“This is my other passion,” Paul said. “Some guys have other hobbies but I’ve been bowling since senior year of high school. That Christmas my mom and dad got me a bowling ball that looked like an ABA basketball -- it was red, white and blue. They got my brother a bowling ball that looked like a regular basketball. I just love bowling. My family bowls all summer long.”

Paul hosts the annual Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational charity bowling event, which benefits his CP3 Foundation. This year’s event will be televised, on ESPN, on Super Bowl Sunday.

“My sophomore year in college I got really serious about bowling,” Paul said. “I probably have 20 bowling balls at home. I have this one bowling ball that’s like my baby. I can make that ball dance. I don’t have it with me. It’s in North Carolina. I should have brought it with me but when I have that ball I feel that you can’t touch me. It’s funny, when I have that ball I feel like I’m going to strike every time.”

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