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J. Cole caused quite a stir online when reports began circulating about him signing a deal to play professional basketball. Now, a little over two weeks later, the rap star has reportedly ended said career with the Rwanda Patriots BBC. Sources told ESPN’s ‘The Undefeated’ that J. Cole has completed all obligations listed in his contract. He is reportedly headed home from Africa “due to a family obligation.”
The news was shared on social platforms Twitter and Instagram by ‘The Undefeated’ senior writer Marc J. Spears. At this time, there is no clarity on what family obligation caused J. Cole to say goodbye to his basketball dreams — once again. However, we do know the award-winning artist was looking forward to hooping. Master P, who is also known for having two short NBA stints in the 90’s, shared back in August that J.Cole was rigorously training.
“When I talked to J. Cole, he was like ‘You know, big dog you did it. What do you think I would have to do to make it happen?’ I said to get one of these NBA jerseys, it’s not gonna be easy,” Master P said. “It’s gonna be a lot of hate, it’s gonna be a lot of people not believing in you but you know J. Cole — he got the right size, he in the gym!”
However, not everyone was as supportive as Master P about J. Cole pursing his lifelong dream. Terrell Stoglin, who is a guard for Moroccan’s Basketball Club, AS Salé, spoke to ESPN earlier this week about the negatives.
“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,” Terrell said. “It’s disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their whole lives for this.”
Terrell did acknowledge some positives including the attention and funding J. Cole’s presence could bring to the African league.
J. Cole had “5 points, 3 assists and 5 rebounds” spread across three preliminary games during his short stint with the league, according to ESPN. Prior to the news about his departure, J. Cole laced his Rwanda Patriots teammates and coaches with new gear.
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