Sideline Story to The Warm Up

Charlotte native and famous rapper J Cole is training for the NBA.

J Cole (right) & trainer Chris Brickley (left) at the gym.Photo Credit: Publicist.

Ever since Allen Iverson took the league by storm, hip-hop and basketball have been intertwined for the last 2 decades. We’ve seen hoopers like Kobe, Shaq, and Damian Lillard pick up the mic and rhyme but we barely see an artist hoop on the court. Master P is the only musician to join an NBA team in the middle of his career but he could be joined by another artist.

Recently, Master P has said that rapper J Cole has been training for the NBA. The former artist and basketball player told Cole it won’t be easy and that he’ll have to put in twice as much to prove you belong on the court. Although he has a history of playing before being an artist, let’s see if he could seriously play in the NBA with the crème de la crème.

J Cole has experience on the court as he played for his high school, Terry Sanford, in Fayetteville, North Carolina for 3 years. After graduating, he decided to attend St. John’s University in New York. Although he received an academic scholarship, he was a walk-on playing the guard position. Cole was a good player for the school and was even called back to play again but refused as he started to focus on his music career.

J Cole (left) playing basketball at Terry Sanford.Photo Credit: The Fayetteville Observer

Looking at this from a number’s perspective, Cole is 6’2, 201 lbs compared to the average height of an NBA point guard (5’11-6’3). The Dreamville creator has the size to compete with today’s stars like Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, and Damian Lillard. There is one knock on the artist starting his pro basketball career right now: his age. J Cole is currently 35 years old. This is usually the age that pro athletes start to decline and retire from the game. For Cole to start his career at this age sounds bizarre. J Cole is a hard worker with a decent basketball resume who could definitely make an NBA roster. After all, the Detroit Pistons are interested in a workout.

.@JColeNC we see you out here. You said they only got 12 slots on the Pistons. Hit us up for that tryout. This is for all the dreamers @bleacherreport#Dreamvillehttps://t.co/6K24xaI28bpic.twitter.com/GYuG5LvqDE

— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons)

August 4, 2020