{"id":7212,"date":"2026-04-02T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/04\/j-cole-set-to-play-for-chinese-leagues-nanjing-monkey-kings\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:00:00","slug":"j-cole-set-to-play-for-chinese-leagues-nanjing-monkey-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/04\/j-cole-set-to-play-for-chinese-leagues-nanjing-monkey-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"J Cole Set To Play For Chinese League\u2019s Nanjing Monkey Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Before The Fall Off World Tour, rapper J Cole will play professional basketball again after signing with the Nanjing Monkey Kings in the Chinese Basketball Association, according to sources cited by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/48374160\/rapper-j-cole-signs-chinese-league-nanjing-monkey-kings\">ESPN<\/a>. J. Cole previously revealed plans to return to basketball on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hot97.com\/news\/j-cole-addresses-if-hes-really-retiring-after-the-fall-off\/\">Cam\u2019Ron\u2019s Talk With Flee Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">J. Cole has signed a contract to play in the Chinese Basketball Association with the Nanjing Monkey Kings <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1f1e8-1f1f3.png\" alt=\"\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/j6M9aUhKPU\">pic.twitter.com\/j6M9aUhKPU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kurrco (@Kurrco) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kurrco\/status\/2039546728668434825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 2, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The new announcement marks the continuation of the rap star\u2019s journey through professional basketball, which began in 2021. Cole has always expressed interest in playing in the NBA. He was a part of the 2019 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest.<\/p>\n<p>As Jermaine Cole, he developed his basketball skills on courts in North Carolina, where he played in high school. Cole spoke on his high school sports activities throughout <em>The Fall Off<\/em> album.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-j-cole-set-to-join-the-chinese-basketball-association-s-nanjing-monkey-kings\">J. Cole Set To Join The Chinese Basketball Association\u2019s Nanjing Monkey Kings<\/h2>\n<p>On Talk With Flee, Cole revealed that he previously promised the Chinese franchise he would appear in several games. His new agreement now fulfills that commitment and returns him to a professional roster.<\/p>\n<p>The upcoming stint marks Cole\u2019s third appearance in an international basketball league. In 2021, he joined the Rwanda Patriots during the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League. The following year, he suited up for the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Canadian Elite Basketball League.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mornings With Mero | HOT 97 Livestream 4-1-26\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nBI6aVL6xfI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Earlier this year, Cole dropped his latest project, <em>The Fall Off<\/em>, in February. The album continues his reputation for thoughtful bars and reflective storytelling. Cole has described the new album as \u201chis last album.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now the rapper prepares for a new challenge overseas. By joining the Nanjing Monkey Kings, J. Cole once again proves his ambition reaches far beyond the recording booth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before The Fall Off World Tour, rapper J Cole will play professional basketball again after signing with the Nanjing Monkey&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-7212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}