World-renowned rapper joins China's professional basketball league

This will be the third occasion that the acclaimed rapper of tracks such as "MIDDLE CHILD" and "Apparently" joins a professional basketball team.

According to ESPN sources, famous rapper J. Cole has officially signed a contract to compete in the basketball Chinese Professional League (CBA) with the Nanjing Monkey Kings club. This is seen as the next step in the artist's journey pursuing professional basketball, an artist who has won two Grammy Awards and received 18 other nominations.

Previously, the 41-year-old artist committed to playing some matches for the Chinese team, and this signing shows he has fulfilled that promise. This is also the third time the American rapper has tested himself in a professional basketball environment.

Though widely known for his music career with major hits like "MIDDLE CHILD", "Apparently", and "a lot" (a collaboration with 21 Savage), J. Cole has seriously pursued basketball since 2020, aiming to become the second rapper in history to appear in the NBA, after Master P. While he hasn't yet reached that dream, he continues to seek opportunities to play in international leagues.

In 2021, J. Cole signed with the Rwanda club Patriots. In his debut match, he played 17 minutes, scoring 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists against Rivers Hoopers. Overall, the rapper born in 1985 played 3 matches as per the contract terms, averaging 1.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1 assist per game before leaving the team.

One year later, he continued his journey in Canada by joining the Scarborough Shooting Stars club. Here, J. Cole played 4 games, averaging 2.4 points per game and achieving an impressive 50% three-point shooting rate. However, he soon paused playing to return to his music tour plans.

Joining the CBA marks a new milestone in J. Cole's sports crossover journey. Though his statistics aren't outstanding, his serious attitude and passion have earned respect from professionals.