Basketball Africa League Player Terrell Stoglin Says J. Cole’s Presence in the BAL is “Disrespectful” To Other Players

Last week, AS Sale guard Terrell Stoglin became the first player in the Basketball Africa League to score 40 points in a game, making him the league’s leading scorer. The former Maryland baller used his platform as one of the league’s biggest names to speak out about J. Cole’s inclusion in the BAL, claiming that the rapper has taken a worthy player’s position.

J. Cole’s professional basketball career overseas has been the subject of a media circus. The North Carolina-bred rapper made his on-court debut as a member of the Patriots BBC following his new studio album The Off-Season. Cole’s highlights have gone viral on social media, including a clean pull-up jumper from his most recent game, but some suggest he should be focused on music instead, given his lackluster stat line.

According to Terrell Stoglin, Cole’s presence in the BAL is “disrespectful” to other players who have been shut out by the pandemic and are still at home, training hard and hoping to be picked up by a team.

“I think there’s a negative and a positive [to J. Cole’s presence],” Stoglin 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. 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 gets glorified is very disrespectful to the game. It’s disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their whole lives for this.” He added, “The positive side of it is: it brings a lot of attention, and, I guess, money. I don’t really pay attention to that type of stuff. I’m more [concerned that] he took someone’s job that deserved it.”