Let J. Cole be an example. Continue to chase your dreams despite not being that good at it.
After playing only three professional games in the NBA-affiliated Basketball Africa League a year ago, rapper Jermaine Cole is now taking his talents to the Canadian Elite Basketball league.
The CEBL tweeted, that the 6′ 3″ 37-year-old Off-Season MC is signing with the Scarborough Shooting Stars, instantly gaining the most popular and recognizable player in the history of the league.
In his time with the BAL, Cole was about as good as you and me. He played with the Rwanda Patriots and scored a total of five points, dished out three assists and grabbed five rebounds in three games. He left the tournament days before the playoffs due to family commitments.
Although Cole’s presence in the BAL gave the league a spotlight it previously did not have, his presence was not popular with everyone.
Terrell Stoglin, an AS Sale guard at the time, went in on the “my life” rapper for creating a distraction and taking a spot from someone else who he felt deserved it.
In an interview with ESPN, he said, “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. 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.”
He continued, “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. 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.”
We’ll see if the North Carolina rapper’s presence is better received this time around.