J Cole signs professional contract with Chinese basketball team
J Cole has signed a contract with Nanjing Monkey Kings in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Cole’s love of basketball is no secret, with the North Carolina rapper agreeing to head over to the professional league in China.
According to ESPN reporter Shams Charania, Cole committed to playing several games for the team last year, and he’s now signed an agreement following the release of The Fall-Off.
This isn’t the first time Cole has played professional basketball, having represented the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League in 2021 and the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Canadian Elite Basketball League in 2022.
Nanjing Monkey Kings were founded in 2007 and play at the 21,000-capacity Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park in Nanjing, Jiangsu. The team is currently 17th out of 20 teams in the league after playing 32 games this season.
Some of the team’s most notable former players include Tacko Fall, Antonio Blakeney, and Willie Cauley-Stein.
J Cole has spoken about his basketball aspirations in the past. During an interview with Slam Magazine, he went into detail about his competitive mindset.
“I work out in the morning, I do a basketball workout, I do my music, and then I do family time,” he said. “I wake up, and I repeat. And I don’t do music on the weekend. I’m working out for a reason. I work out with intentions in mind.”
He continued, “If the highest height that I can climb is rec league in North Carolina or in New York, where I’m averaging 20 points a game, like, all right, that’s the highest height I can climb. But I’ve got to max out! I got to get the most out of my body.”