Photo credit: Kevork Djansezian/ Stringer/ Getty
J Cole is receiving criticism from a fellow leaguer by the name of Terrell Stoglin.
In case you missed it: J Cole, yeup, @JColeNC is expected to play for the Rwanda Patriots BBC in the first season of the Basketball Africa League. An NBA supported league that will start in Kigali on 16th May! 🔥 @theBAL
pic.twitter.com/qy6LCWUOMG— Georgie (@georgiendirangu) May 10, 2021
The rapper made his Basketball Africa League (BAL) debut less than two weeks ago and AS Sale guard, Stoglin isn’t too happy about the hype and decided to speak out. Terrell is reportedly the first player of the league to put up 40 points in a single game and in his opinion, Cole is just “average.” He then continued by speaking of the amount of disrespect brought forth, noting other athletes who he felt were “more deserving” of a contract with BAL.
“I think there’s a negative and a positive [to Cole’s presence],” Stoglin told ESPN. “The negative part of it is: I think he took someone’s job that deserves it. I live in a basketball world. I don’t live in a fan world. I know a lot of guys that had their careers stopped by COVID and they’re still home working out and training for an opportunity like this. 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. It’s disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their whole lives for this.”
Having J. Cole apart of the league brings a lot of benefits, bringing more attention to the league, and potentially more money.
Terrell Stoglin who’s one of the top scorer in the new African Basketball League, speaks on the pros and cons of J Cole presence in the league pic.twitter.com/zZac9Utl8f
— Best’s Point Of View TV (@BestsPOVTV) May 26, 2021
“I don’t really pay attention to that type of stuff,” he said about the positive aspects of Cole’s involvement. “I’m more [concerned that] he took someone’s job that deserved it.”
J. Cole recently released The Off-Season and announced his three- to six-game contract with the Rwanda Patriots shortly after. Playing basketball professionally wasn’t just luck but a dream of the artist who decided to put his dream on hold to pursue a career in music.
