J. Cole Reportedly Ends His Basketball Africa League Residency With the Rwanda Patriots
Just before the team’s quarterfinal game on Thursday.
J. Cole is ending his stint on Rwanda Patriot’s roster after fulling his contractual obligation to the Basketball Africa League, according to the BBC UK, ahead of the team’s quarterfinal game on Thursday. According to the outlet, he will be leaving Rwanda “almost immediately.”
A source told ESPN that the rapper is departing Rwanda due to a “family obligation,” but did not elaborate on the circumstances.
The rapper scored five points and provided three assists and five rebounds during his 45 minutes of playing time across three games.
Source confirms rapper J. Cole of the Rwanda Patriots BBC has completed his contractual obligation to the Basketball Africa League and has departed from Rwanda due to a “family obligation,” a source said. J. Cole had five points, three assists and five rebounds in three games. pic.twitter.com/RXQsXMN8DX
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 26, 2021
Representatives for the Rwanda Patriots did not immediately respond to HYPEBEAST for comment on the rapper’s departure.
Though J. Cole’s presence on the inaugural roster garnered mass media attention for the league, not all players were happy about his short-term residence.
“For a guy who has so much money and has another career to just come here and average, like, one point a game and still get glorified is very disrespectful to the game,” said AS Sale guard Terrell Stoglin to ESPN. “It’s disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their whole lives for this.”
The first-ever 12-team Basketball Africa League, which tipped off in Kigali, Rwanda, on May 16, is slated to host its championship game on Sunday, May 30. The Patriots are set to play against Mozambique’s Ferroviario de Maputo in the upcoming quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, J. Cole just dropped a new music video for The Off-Season track, “a p p l y i n g . p r e s s u r e.” Watch the visual, featuring Dave East.
