Sports + Culture | Keyona Porshaa`
Rapper by day, baller by night! With plans to begin a world tour tomorrow, June 10th beginning with the Governor’s Ball in NYC, J. Cole recently made his basketball debut with the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Canadian Elite Basketball League May 26th.
If you know Cole, 37, then you know that he has an infinite love for the game of basketball. Rap colleague #Drake was court side to support the rapper’s debut and fans inside the arena and on the internet were ecstatic to see the Grammy winning rapper enter the game.
He entered the game off the bench and after a few misfires, #Cole connected from beyond the 3-point arc in the corner, and everyone went wild! He finished his debut game with one rebound, one assist, one foul and one three pointer in 15 minutes of play.
“I want to say thank you to the fans, the people," said Cole in a post-game interview with Savanna Hamilton with the #ScarboroughShootingStars. "The people of Canada, Toronto, and specifically Scarborough. Being in the city for four weeks now–the amount of excitement and pride they sh
ow, they’re happy I’m here. I appreciate that. They’re excited for basketball in Canada. I’m proud to be able to add something to Canada and to the talent that’s here in Canada.”
The #CEBL (founded by OVO member Nicholas ‘Niko’ Carino) is only four years old but in reference to Cole, they believe that the league is a place where he can continue to hone his skills in the game that he loves.
“He’s a great dude, great teammate, a humble guy,” Scarborough teammate Kameron Chatman told Complex about playing with Cole. “He was acting just like the rest of us. We were just talking to him, giving him confidence, and vice-versa. He missed a couple shots early but we just kept telling him to continue to be confident. And obviously, he knocked his last one down, so he was great to have with us.”
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