Rick Ross Defends J. Cole After BAL Player Criticized His Roster Spot

Not everyone is here for J. Cole's latest move into professional basketball.

Nearly two weeks after the 36-year-old rapper made his professional basketball debut, appearing in the Basketball Africa League for the Patriots Basketball Club in Rwanda, fellow league athlete Terrell Stoglin (who plays for AS Salé) shared his unfiltered opinion of Cole's venture into sports, and let's just say, he's not a fan.

“I think there’s a negative and a positive [to Cole’s presence],” the guard recently told ESPN. “The negative part of it is: I think he took someone’s job that deserves it. I live in a basketball world. I don’t live in a fan world. I know a lot of guys that had their careers stopped by COVID and they’re still home working out and training for an opportunity like this."

He went on to discuss Cole's stats — the North Carolina native registered three points, three rebounds, and two assists in nearly 18 minutes of action as the Patriots took on the Rivers Hoopers Basketball Club in his first BAL game — suggesting that Cole wasn't deserving of his roster spot.

"For a guy who has so much money and has another career to just come here and average, like, one point a game and still get glorified is very disrespectful to the game," Terell, who is reportedly the first BAL player to put up 40 points in a single game, said. "It’s disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their whole lives for this.”

While the basketball player admitted that Cole would bring more eyes to the BAL, and possibly even more money, he said he's more "concerned" that the rapper "took someone’s job that deserved it."

As one might imagine, Terrell's comments were met with backlash. One of the first to speak out was Rick Ross, who responded to the basketball player's comments on social media.

“In no way is this meant to be disrespectful, but first and foremost, should no Black man’s dreams be censored nor limited,” the Miami rapper and business mogul said in a video. “Comin’ from a brother, I think you would understand what building these types of relationships would do for the business. For the eyes on the industry, you know what I’m sayin’?”

He added, “You should be there to support the brother. If he made one point on the first game, by the time he get to the 10th, you should make sure he makin’ six a game, you understand?”

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