American rapper Jermaine Cole made his professional basketball debut as his Rwanda Patriots played against Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers at Kigali Arena in Rwanda.
The inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL) kicked off in Rwandan capital Kigali on Sunday, featuring 12 teams from across the continent.
J. Cole made his professional basketball debut and finished the game with 3 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 17 minutes.
The rapper with five platinum albums and an estimated fortune of more than $60 million has signed a deal with the team to play three to six games this season.
The 36-year-old arrived in Rwanda earlier in May to quarantine himself in order to be ready to play for the league.
This Prince Ebeh SLAM is your @WilsonBasktball Play of the Game #theBAL pic.twitter.com/kiNjt6wyd4
— Basketball Africa League (@theBAL) May 16, 2021
It’s expected that Cole will be playing in three to six games for the Patriots. This certainly isn’t the first time that Cole has tried his hand on the hardwood.
Cole was a star at Stanford High School in North Carolina growing up and even walked onto the St. John’s basketball team. However, Cole never actually played in a game and chose to focus on his musical career.
The Basketball Africa League is a major competition supported by the most powerful basketball organization in the world, the American NBA.
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) represents the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) first investment in an NBA branded league outside North America.
