Major signing! Officially joins the CBA! American rapper partners with Guo Haowen

Not an April Fool's joke, not an April Fool's joke.

The Tongxi team actually signed a 41-year-old American rapper...

Seriously, he has already arrived for team training.

Rap + basketball, does this combination really work?

This rapper & Tongxi's new foreign player is quite notable, named J.Cole. He is one of the most thoughtful and influential rappers, music producers, and entrepreneurs in contemporary hip-hop, known for his profound narrative lyrics, introspective creative style, and extremely high artistic integrity. He won Grammy Awards twice in 2020 and 2024, and has received as many as 17-18 nominations.

Moreover, this guy has previously played in professional leagues, having played in the African Basketball League in 2021 and the Canadian Elite Basketball League in 2022. He possesses basketball skills beyond an average person's level, but since he is not a professional player and is too old, don't expect him to achieve much on the CBA court. The Tongxi team mainly intends for him to exert influence off the court, such as selling tickets.

A well-known domestic basketball platform reported:The Tongxi team will definitely have J.Cole play on the court and hopes to leverage this to establish cooperation opportunities with the NBA. J.Cole holds shares in the NBA Eastern Conference team Charlotte Hornets.

However, it must still be said that a rapper bringing his talent to the CBA is an absolutely crazy move.

So far this season, the Tongxi team ranks 17th in the league with 11 wins and 21 losses, and their playoff hopes are quite slim.

The new star player Guo Haowen has played in 27 games, averaging 31.1 minutes per game with contributions of 20.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 3.5 turnovers (ranking first in the league). His three shooting percentages are 44.1%, 31.4%, and 77.6%.

Both his average points per game and assists per game are personal career highs in the CBA for Guo Haowen. This season is his C-class contract year; based on his court performance alone, he could definitely secure a D-class top salary new contract this summer offseason, but his frequent off-court news might have some impact.