J. Cole To Play Professional Basketball In Africa

The rapper is expected to officially sign with the Rwanda Patriots of the new Basketball Africa League on Thursday.

Grammy-winning musician J. Cole is trading beats for buckets this week as he officially signed with the Rwanda Patriots of the new Basketball Africa League.

The 36-year-old arrived in Rwanda on Saturday and is currently quarantining before he is officially signed onto the league around Thursday, reports ESPN. On Sunday, the Rwanda Patriots are set to play their first game against the Nigeria River Hoopers.

This is not J. Cole’s first experience on a basketball team — he had a brief stint as a walk-on on St. John’s Red Storm before he pursued his music career full time. Today, he also became the first artist to have his own cover of Slam, a basketball-centered publication.

“I’m doing all this work to be at peace with, If I never did another album, I’m cool,” J. Cole said in his Slam cover story.That’s the reason for all of this, so I know that I put everything on the table. I left everything on the table, and I’m good with that. Because there’s a lot of shit I want to do with my life and in my life that, because I have such an intense love and passion for the craft, if I don’t let that go, I’m not going to be able to get to these other things that I also want to learn and grow and be good at.”

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