J Cole has rapped on multiple occasions about his basketball abilities, also referencing his failure to fulfill his dream of making it to the NBA. While Cole might lack the height or athleticism required to make it to the major leagues, former Lakers assistant coach, Phil Handy, praised the rapper’s basketball talent and work ethic in an appearance on Podcast P with Paul George.
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Handy shared that the 39-year-old reached out to him while attempting to compete in the Rwanda Basketball League. The ex-Lakers development coach underlined his amazement at Cole’s wide-eyed excitement to soak in every bit of information and work really hard.
“He came into that workout, and he was eyes wide open. And he worked. He was just like, ‘Man, the level of detail that y’all cats getting into with this work.’ He left that workout like, ‘Yeah, I’m inspired, I wanna do more, I wanna get better,'” the 53-year-old recalled.
J Cole had a brief stint in the RBL with the Patriots BBC back in 2021. He played in only three contests for the team, posting underwhelming stats across the board with just 1.5 points, 1.0 rebound(s), and 0.5 assist(s) per game during his short tenure. But this wasn’t supposed to be a spectacle for fans to pay attention to, rather a way for the rapper to complete his childhood dream.
How nice of a hooper is J. Cole?
Phil Handy says he could be playing “D2, maybe low D1.” pic.twitter.com/jxd2Bx4bQV
— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) December 17, 2024
Handy even ranked the rapper’s talent on a collegiate scale, confidently dubbing the Grammy winner as a high-end NCAA athlete. “I would probably put him at a high D2, low D1,” the veteran coach concluded.
However, the California native didn’t leave out the possibility of further improvement from Cole, which, Handy said, could make him an upper-echelon D1 player.
J Cole is one of the best basketball players in the rap game
J Cole has been known as one of the better hoopers among his peers for a while. But the longtime coach’s testimony only solidifies what we’ve already heard from the rap legend’s love of basketball in tracks like “Fire Squad” and “Love Yourz”.
Cole’s ability and hard work have even been recognized by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo as well. The Bucks forward shouted out the rapper while playing “Nice or Not Nice”, a ranking of musicians’ and celebrities’ athletic abilities for Complex Sports.
“He went to the motherland, came back with some skills,” Giannis said, declaring him “nice” and dishing him an impressive 9.5 rating. “He can shoot. I don’t know if he can shoot better than me,” he continued while chuckling to himself.
But Cole is also 39 years old, which is somewhat of an impediment on his growth as a player. He could have been even better if he had received the same opportunities he now enjoys.
