SCARBOROUGH, Ontario — Rapper J. Cole will play another season of pro basketball, this time in Canada.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League tweeted Thursday night that the 37-year-old rapper will join the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the coming season as a guard. The season begins Wednesday.
Cole, whose full name is Jermaine Cole, played with the Rwanda Patriots in the Baloncesto Africa League in 2021. He also played basketball in high school in North Carolina.
Cole’s presence at the BAL last year was not universally popular, with AS Sale star Terrell Stoglin, who played his college hoops at Maryland and is the BAL’s leading scorer in 2022, criticising the rapper’s place in the tournament.
Stoglin, who is the only player to score 40 points in a BAL game, told ESPN: “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.
“Vivo en un mundo de baloncesto. No vivo en un mundo de fans. Conozco a muchos chicos a los que COVID les detuvo sus carreras y todavía están en casa haciendo ejercicio y entrenando para una oportunidad como esta.
“Para un tipo que tiene tanto dinero y tiene otra carrera, venir aquí y promediar, como, un punto por juego y aun así ser glorificado, es una falta de respeto al juego. Es una falta de respeto para los que sacrificaron toda su vida por esto.
“El lado positivo es: atrae mucha atención y, supongo, dinero. Realmente no presto atención a ese tipo de cosas. Me preocupa más que haya aceptado el trabajo de alguien que lo merecía ".
Cole scored five points, and recorded three assists and five rebounds, in his three games at the BAL, but left the tournament ahead of the playoffs due to family commitments. The Patriots finished fourth.
Cole won a Grammy in 2020 for Best Rap Song (“A Lot” by 21 Savage featuring J. Cole) and has several BET Hip Hop Awards to his name. He also has six platinum albums and has produced songs for artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Janet Jackson and Young Thug.
His last album, “The Off-Season,” came out a year ago.
Associated Press contribuyó a este informe.
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