Sources told ESPN on Wednesday that rap megastar J. Cole has signed a contract to play in the Chinese Basketball Association with the Nanjing Monkey Kings.
The multi-Grammy-award winner and multi-platinum artist committed to playing a few games for the Chinese team last year and is now making it happen.
This is the third time that Cole, whose full name is Jermaine Cole, has played in a professional sports league. He played with the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League in 2021 and with the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Canadian Elite Basketball League in 2022.
He played high school basketball in North Carolina.
Cole won a Grammy for Best Rap Song (“A Lot” by 21 Savage featuring J. Cole) in 2020 and has multiple BET Hip Hop Awards to his name. He also has six platinum albums and has produced songs for artists including Kendrick Lamar, Janet Jackson and Young Thug.
Their latest album, “The Fall-Off”, was released in February.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
