J. Cole’s Basketball Backlash

5.27.21

J. Cole via Rwanda Patriots.

When it comes to the culture of music and sports, hip-hop and basketball go hand-in-hand. There are plenty of artists whom have tried their practice at certain sport. Dozens of athletes whom have tried to rhyme. While it’s always an interesting look to attempt to change a profession, or take on two, when you are in the public eye, most people have some sort of a respect for the craft, because without one, you really cannot have the other. We all love sports and music, and would be remiss to not test out all of your passions and see where they take you.

For J. Cole, we have known for a while that he was an actually skilled basketball player. There are so many celebrity pick-up games, and people that love watching the sport. But when you think about rap artists whom are actually good at basketball, you probably think about: Quavo, 2 Chainz, and J. Cole. Over the past few months, J. Cole has been a lot more vocal about his basketball journey, and pretty much overall in general. He is not one to post a lot, or talk lot. But he has been stern about putting his overall career in high-gear, and embracing his role as a full time entertainer.

The start of this really began at the 2019 NBA All Star Game, when J. Cole somewhat participated in the Dunk Content. Dennis Smith Jr. dunked over J. Cole, and then Cole tried his own luck. He missed, but laughed it off and was decently respected for his participation. This was also a moment where he would leak the PUMA RS Dreamer basketball sneaker that he had been working on with his brand sponsors. Towards the end of last year, J. Cole started hinting at new music, and did a piece with the Player’s Tribune around his history playing basketball. He mentioned actually intending to try out for his college’s basketball team, but was too lazy to ever get up and go to tryouts. The idea that he kind of quit on something he loved, made him disappointed and want to continue to explore the possibilities.

So, obviously J. Cole’s music career has continued. He just dropped a new album, and seemingly has a few more projects he is planning to share at some point in the near future. However, he is taking this basketball thing very seriously. The Detroit Pistons extended J. Cole a tryout, and some interesting posts suggest he may have went. What we do know, is he has been playing basketball oversees, in an African Basketball League, for the Rwanda Patriots.

J. Cole could have the intentions in showing off what he could do to come play back at home. Maybe he just wanted to some playing time to feel things out. Perhaps he got a great deal from it and the club wanted some more publicity. After LaMelo Ball’s run in Australia, I am so there are many other leagues that would have been thrilled to have representation that could leave to further publishing, noise, fans, etc. Thus far, J. Cole has played in three games, and has a points record of five points, three assists, five rebounds and forty-five minutes of playing time across the three games.

He has received some backlash about his presence on the team, specifically from other players in the league. In an ESPN interview, one of the league members stated that there are positive and negatives to having J. Cole in the league. The positive, being that J. Cole brings a lot of attention to the league. He is globally well known musician that people really care about and pay attention to, and this would bring the eyes and representation to the league that they would hope for to really boost their careers and fans. On the other hand, he had a lot of negatives, saying that it was “disrespectful” for J. Cole to come and play and their league.

Essentially, the issue brought to you by this basketball player comes from the idea that his spot on the team, takes a spot away from someone else. A quote from the interview states: “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.” I do understand. A lot of people work so hard for one thing. J. Cole has fame and fortune already and may have taken someones spot to try something new.

However, new reports say that J. Cole already has fulfilled his contractual obligations, and will be heading home. Hopefully, if his contract was only for 45 minutes of play time, that they either had his backup, or he was not really taking anyone’s place at all. J. Cole is reportedly headed home, due to a family matter that was not elaborated on. Could he have felt uncomfortable by these comments? Maybe another hit after the uncomfortable feedback from his single Snow On The Bluff. But if there is one thing about J. Cole, he is going to find a way to rise above it all. Was this enough to get him another NBA tryout, though? I suppose we’ll soon found out.