Le dribble, le shot, le joke, voila, le suave Batum scores

If I wasn't mistaken -- and since the question was asked in pretty much perfect French, a language I don't speak, why would I have been? -- the child of 9 or 10 years old asked Nicolas Batum who his favorite French philosopher was.

This is a tricky question, obviously. Rene Descartes, of the 16th and 17th century Descartes, has at times been credited with building the foundation of modern philosophy. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, well, that guy was first-team all-philosophy, too, but a century later. In philosophical terms, a century is the same kind of overlap Magic and Jordan had.

"Kobe Bryant," Batum answered, in French.

It was Voltaire, a Frenchman, who said, "Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers."

It's also possible I was mistaken.

The question was?

"My favorite player in the NBA right now," Batum said later, in English.

I was indeed mistaken.

Excitement, in any language, is unmistakable and, the students at the Portland French School, a lovely place lacking (sadly) only a duty-free store, were excited to see Batum on Tuesday. Batum, born in Lisieux, France, seemed equally excited.

In a colorful gymnasium, with hoops low enough a sportswriter could dunk, hung a sign that read:

"Bienvenue Nicolas

l'Ecole Francaise de Portland

Adore les Blazers."

Those of you who travel regularly know "bienvenue" means "Welcome aboard United Airlines, now listen to 'Rhapsody in Blue.'"

On another wall, a stack of printouts stapled together translated referee's signals into French. It's good to know that a charge is a charge in any language. So too is illegal defense.

Out in the lobby, awaiting Batum's arrival, a carved wooden bear held a sign that says, "BONJOUR."

Elimane Mbengue, the school's headmaster, said there was a buzz about the building all day because Batum was coming. The purpose of the school, he said, is to "educate with the world in mind," and lately that meshes nicely with the Blazers' purpose of winning with the world in mind.

Tuesday night, Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez were the guests of honor at a Rose Garden gathering held by the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Portland. Cheri Hanson, the Blazers' vice president of communications, needed her passport to get through the day.

Batum arrived at the school around 2 p.m. and headed to the gym, where more than 100 of the school's 220 preschool through eighth-grade students were waiting.

With questions.

In French.

Mbengue introduced Batum.

"Something ... something ... NBA ... basketball ... merci beaucoup," he said, in French, give or take a few hundred other words I didn't catch.

About which time a teacher turned to me, asked something (in French), saw the blank look on my face and asked, "Do you speak any French?"

"Not a word," I said, lying in English.

I know bienvenue.

Next Mbengue presented Batum with a T-shirt and a gift basket. Batum seemed particularly pleased with the cheese. (That's not a joke.)

This led to the question-and-answer session with the children, which, if I wasn't mistaken, was a rousing success and, judging by their reactions, Batum was charming, funny, controversial, understated and inspirational.

He did later say that one question was about how many kids he'd like to have in the future.

"I said, 'Five, to make a team.'"

Next, it was time to play.

Three kids ran out to challenge Batum to a game of one-on-trois, attacking him with what you'd have to call a triangle offense.

"You're not counting the misses, are you?" Hanson asked.

"It's the only thing I understand," I said.

Batum was ... I wasn't counting the misses. It was too charming for stat keeping. Kids subbed in seamlessly, changing on the fly and eventually giving way to a few adults, which changed, ever so slightly, the expression on Batum's face.

A competitor never really quits competing, even when he's joking around. Thus the bead of sweat on the end of Batum's nose when he came over to talk to reporters before going to sign autographs.

"They played hard for me," he said.

Don't expect us to start cheering for his every answer, I told him.

"It was nice," he said. "It was really cool."

It was, and you didn't have to speak the language to know it.

--Ryan White: 503-412-7024; ryanwhite@news.oregonian.com