Ahead of the release of his first signature sneaker, the Puma RS-Dreamer, an ad dropped showing J. Cole working out in a gym with a voice over from Master P that hinted something big is in the cards, even beyond the new kicks. Now, thanks to an interview Master P gave to TMZ, it appears that “something” might be an attempt at a professional basketball career.
Master P, who famously had a cup of coffee in the league as a preseason player for the Charlotte Hornets and the Toronto Raptors in the 1990s and played professional basketball in other leagues, told TMZ that J. Cole asked him what he’d need to do if he wanted to make it in the NBA. He explained that while it’s not going to be easy to make it to that point and Cole would draw the attention of everyone who has worked their whole lives to get to that point, “I believe in him and I believe that he’s a youngster that has a lot of desire.”
“I said to get one of these NBA jerseys, it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be a lot of hate, it’s gonna be a lot of people not believing in you but you know J. Cole — he got the right size, he in the gym!”
“But, what I told him … this a different time we’re in. They’re going to pick you apart! You’re gonna have to be able to hit every shot and if you don’t hit every shot, they — you know in the NBA, they don’t hit every shot but they believe in them. So, you’re gonna have to go somewhere where the team really believe in you and the players believe in you.”
Cole is a well-documented basketball fan and has frequently shown that he’s one of the best hoopers in the rap game — he notably tried to walk-on to the basketball program at St. John’s when he was in school. Of course, being a walk-on college basketball player as a teenager or 20-something and making the NBA as a 35-year-old are two very, very different things, but if he does indeed try to pursue this seriously, Cole has the support of Master P.
