J. Cole’s professional basketball career is over.
The Off-Season rapper made his debut in the African Basketball League earlier this month. He signed with the Rwanda Patriots. He fulfilled his contract playing three games and earning five points, three assists, and five rebounds.
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On Wednesday (May 26), reports surfaced that he’s leaving the team to take care of a “family obligation.” However, some people criticized Cole for playing on the team in the first place. Fellow league athlete Terrell Stoglin said Cole’s basketball skills are “average.” Stoglin suggested [other athletes were] more deserving of a BAL contract. He told ESPN,
“I think there’s a negative and a positive [to Cole’s presence]. The negative part of it is: I think he took someone’s job that deserves it. I live in a basketball world. I don’t live in a fan world. I know [many] guys who had their careers stopped by COVID and are still home working out and training for an opportunity like this. For a guy [with] so much money and has another career [just to 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.”
Rick Ross defended Cole on social media. He said,
“In no way is this meant to be disrespectful, but first and foremost, should no Black man’s dreams be censored nor limited. And coming from a brother, I think you would understand what building these types of relationships would do for the business, for the eyes on the industry.” Take a look: