J. Cole reportedly signs contract to play for Chinese Basketball Association's Nanjing Monkey Kings

Jack BaerThu, April 2, 2026 at 4:09 AM UTC

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J. Cole’s basketball career is about to take him to China. Unless it’s an April Fools’ joke.

The multi-platinum rapper has signed a contract to play for the Nanjing Monkey Kings in the Chinese Basketball Association, honoring a commitment he made last year according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

J. Cole posted a greeting to Chinese fans on the video platform Douyin.

The 41-year-old Cole has previously suited up for the Patriots Basketball Club in Rwanda, competing in the Basketball Africa League in 2021. He posted 5 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists total in 3 games, averaging 15.2 minutes.

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In 2022, he suited up for the Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, where he averaged 2.4 points and 9.9 minutes across 5 games. He has also participated in the NBA Celebrity Game in the past and was the cover athlete for the Dreamer Edition of NBA 2K23.

The CBL, with a few former NBA players in its ranks, figures to be a different animal than those leagues. Not that J. Cole is going to specifically be asked to deal with those players.

Before those professional stints, Cole’s basketball career consisted of two years of varsity basketball in high school, a failed attempt to walk onto the basketball team at St. John’s and scout team work for the Red Storm’s women’s team.

He was one of 10 players to get a callback while trying out for St. John’s, and he told Sports Illustrated a few years later that not making the team allowed him to focus on music:

“That was the moment where I decided that basketball was a pipe dream. It wasn't what I wanted to spend my next three or four years chasing. And that music was absolutely what I wanted to do. It was a hard decision, and that's assuming I make the team. Knowing my personality, not only would I have made it, but I would have done my best to be something of a player and get clock. I'd have been like a Jamario Moon, one of these guys that worked his whole life just to get to the league. I just got that type of spirit that does not quit.”

That pivot has obviously worked out. And now he’s playing basketball again.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”