Rapper J. Cole, whose real name is Jermaine Cole, plans to hit the hardwood by playing a season of pro basketball in Canada, according to ABC News.
NBA sports analyst Shams Charania confirmed in a tweet that the Canadian Elite Basketball League will permit the rapper to suit up with the Scarborough Shooting Stars as a guard in the upcoming season, Complex reports. The season starts on Wednesday, May 25.
The 37-year-old rapper, who played high school basketball in North Carolina, is not new to playing professional basketball. He ripped the courts playing with the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) in 2021.
J. Cole the professional basketball player. 🏀 #ColeWorld pic.twitter.com/0CPXunoMnZ
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) May 16, 2021
BAL star Terrell Stoglin, labeled as the league’s leading scorer, was not too welcoming of Cole’s participation in last year’s tournament.
“I think there’s a negative and a positive [to J. Cole’s presence]. The negative part of it is: I think he took someone’s job that deserves it,” Stoglin told ESPN. “I live in a basketball world. I don’t live in a fan world. I know a lot of guys that had their careers stopped by COVID and they’re still home working out and training for an opportunity like this.”
“For a guy who has so much money and has another career to just come here and average, like, one point a game and still get glorified is very disrespectful to the game. It’s disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their whole lives for this,” he added. “The positive side of it is: It brings a lot of attention, and, I guess, money. I don’t really pay attention to that type of stuff. I’m more [concerned that] he took someone’s job that deserved it.”
In an interview with Complex, former NBA player Ben Uzoh, who was guarded by the rapper during the BAL tournament, praised Cole for playing basketball, according to Complex. He acknowledged the Grammy winner’s skills on the court and applauded him for making his dream of playing the sport come true.
He added that Cole has been “helping push the game on the continent with his buzz, clout, reputation and who he is as an entertainer,” Complex reports.
This is the second consecutive year Cole has been playing professional basketball. In his last three games with the BAL, he scored five points, pulled three assists, and had five rebounds.
