American rapper J Cole has bid an emotional farewell to his teammates and staff of the Patriots, a day after a two-week stint with the club. J Cole returned to the United States on Wednesday, May 26, citing ‘family obligation’. He left the camp after playing three games, helping Patriots to qualify to the quarter-finals where he contributed five points, five rebounds and three assists. The rapper started his professional basketball career on May 10 at the age of 36, having signed a contract to play for the Rwandan representatives during the ongoing Basketball Africa League (BAL). J Cole thanked the BAL organisers and Patriots in particular for giving him an opportunity to start his professional career at the club. “Thank you to BAL and to the Patriots for the opportunity. Thank you to my teammates, the coaches and staff for treating me like family. I learned so much in the few weeks we were together. Thank you to everybody that had kind words for me despite my inexperience. I plan to get better,” Cole posted on his Instagram Page, on Friday, May 28. He also hailed the club’s triumphant performance after beating Mozambican side Ferroviario de Maputo 73-71 on Thursday, May 27 to reach the semifinals and wait for a rematch against Tunisian giants US Monastir. “Congrats on that win tonight and good luck next game,” he said. The rapper’s experience was beyond just going pro in basketball as he hailed the beauty of Rwanda and its people and recommended everyone to visit the country. He said, “Thank you to the entire country of Rwanda and to the city of Kigali for hosting us. Beautiful land with beautiful people. To anyone considering visiting or moving to the continent, from everything I saw and heard, I would recommend you consider Kigali and Rwanda in general.” May 10 will be remembered as the day the American rapper went pro in basketball. The musician was a surprise inclusion on the teams roster since he has never played professional basketball. He made his first appearance on May 16 on a winning side, when Patriots beat Nigerian giants Rivers Hoopers 83-60 during the tournament’s opening game at the Kigali Arena. He played 17 minutes during the game and contributed three points, three rebounds and two assists, a performance that drew mixed reactions among the basketball fans in Rwanda and across the globe. Although a small section of basketball fans said he didn’t contribute much, many others sympathized with him, saying his age and lack of experience in such tournaments didn’t help him much. But his addition to the Patriots roster can be seen not just as an occasion for him to launch his intention to go pro but also played a role in using his fame towards branding the Rwandan representatives and the tournament itself to the basketball world. The rapper, who is regarded as one of the world’s best in Hip Hop, now turns focus on his latest and sixth studio album, ‘The Off-Season’ which he released on May 14, just two days before the BAL tip-off. He used his presence in the tournament to boost the sales of the album which moved 288,476 copies in first-week sales to go top of the Billboard 200.
