With J. Cole, step-backs are a staple now. Unfortunately, the rapper has had to pull out of Nanjing Monkey Kings, a team in the Chinese Basketball Association, where Cole was a professional basketball player.
Cole’s basketball career in China lasted all of one game (eight minutes, to be specific) — where the rapper was both commended by some and mocked by some for his stats in the game.
With zero points to boast, Cole had eyes on him waiting for the second game redemption. However, it now seems as though it won’t happen — not in China, at least.
The rapper had to leave the league citing “visa issues,” which has tickled the trolls funny owing to Cole’s tendency to “delete later.”
Jokes apart, it is clear that the artist is driven to make a name within the sporting world and live his second childhood dream — China or otherwise, we wish him the best for the next game to come!
Check out Cole’s statement on the exit:
“Initially, I was scheduled to play in at least 3 games for the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the CBA. The work visa process took way longer than expected, so I was only able to play in one before heading home.
I want to say thank you to the Nanjing club and to the CBA for allowing me to have that incredible experience. Also, to my teammates who were mad cool, and who really wanted me to get a bucket!
I got to play 8 minutes in one of the top leagues in the world, got a few good looks, but wasn’t able to hit one. A couple more games and maybe those shots would have started to fall! Either way, I’m fulfilled and grateful. Shit, I feel like I dropped 20! And my knees felt like I played 40 mins!
On top of all that, the biggest win is that my family and I got to experience China for the first time. The people were kind, and the cities are clean and beautiful. It’s a very peaceful place.
The high-speed train was crazy. Super convenient. I was able to go from Nanjing to Shanghai in like an hour on the train. Distance-wise, that would be like going from DC to New York in an hour.
I also didn’t realize there were so many people in China that rocked with my music! Thank you to everybody who showed up and brought an album to sign. I was blown away. I felt the energy in the game that y’all wanted me to hit those shots too! Appreciate it!
I told the team that if I could stay in shape, I would be down to play for a longer amount of games next year after I’m done with the tour. Am I with? We’ll see. DREAMER.”