Earlier this month, J. Cole signed with the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), but now he’s already back in the United States after playing only one professional game.
In a post on his blog, Cole offered his fans an update and revealed that visa issues have prevented him from playing more games with the Nanjing Monkey Kings.
“Initially I was scheduled to play in at least 3 games for the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the CBA,” he shared. “The work visa process took way longer than expected, so I was only able to play in one game before heading back.”
He thanked the Nanjing team and the CBA for offering him the opportunity to play in a professional league, and gave a shout-out to his teammates for being supportive.
“I got to play 8 minutes in one of the top leagues in the world, got a few good looks but wasn’t able to hit one,” he wrote. “A couple more games and maybe those shots would have started to fall!”
Cole also highlighted how much he and his family enjoyed their trip to China.
“The people were kind, the cities are clean and beautiful,” he wrote. “I also didn't realize there were so many people in China that rocked with my music! Thank you to everybody who showed up and brought an album to sign. I was blown away. I felt the energy in the game that yall wanted me to hit those shots too! Appreciate it!”
Despite the experience being brief, he also indicated that he told his teammates that he would try to stay in shape so that he could potentially come back in the future.
“I told the team that if I could stay in shape I would be down to play for a longer amount of games next year after I’m done with tour,” he wrote. “I'm wildin???? 😂😂😂 we'll see. DREAMER.”
The team’s general manager, Zhen Wang, indicated that he signed Cole to the team in hopes of providing some of its domestic players with an opportunity to play in the United States.
“Since he’s the minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, we’re hoping that through his position, he can maybe help more of our domestic players get opportunities to train and play in the U.S.,” said Wang.
