MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CELEBRITY NEWS

NBA's Detroit Pistons offer rapper J Cole a tryout, angry fans say 'it's a business not a sport'

The Pistons tweeted on Monday, August 3, 'JColeNC we see you out here. You said they only got 12 slots on the Pistons. Hit us up for that tryout. This is for all the dreamers'

It looks like rapper J Cole might get a chance to make it into the National Basketball Association's (NBA) games. The Detroit Pistons team tweeted on Monday, August 3, offering the rapper to try out for the club whenever he is ready. The tweet read, “@JColeNC we see you out here. You said they only got 12 slots on the Pistons. Hit us up for that tryout. This is for all the dreamers @bleacherreport #Dreamville.”

Hip-hop mogul Percy “Master P” Miller, who had NBA stints with the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors in the 1990s, told TMZ sports that Cole is training for a shot on NBA roster. As per a report by The Score, Miller said that Cole had asked him for advice on what it would take to make an NBA roster. "When I talked to J. Cole, he was like, 'You know, big dog, you did it. What do you think I would have to do to make it happen?'", Miller said.
 
"I said to get one of these NBA jerseys, it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be a lot of hate, it's gonna be a lot of people not believing in you, but you know J. Cole, he got the right size, he in the gym," he further added. A couple of days later, we saw NBA's Detroit Pistons offering Cole a Jersey to think about the tryout.  

Earlier, Cole, 35, wrote a piece published in The Players Tribune in July in which he expressed that he had dreams of making the NBA as a young man. He mentioned that he did step into NBA court in 2012 when he made an appearance in the All-Star Celebrity Game. 

Though it appeared like a dream come true moment for Cole, a certain section of Internet users believes that the Pistons fans might go into "cardiac arrest" with this news as the rapper barely has any experience in the sport. Many fans saw this news as shocking and tweeted, “My jaw is on the floor is J Cole going to be a Detroit Piston." Others felt that with this news, Piston players are going to be mad. Many fans also ask if the Pistons are going to take literally anyone who does not even meet the eligibility criteria for the sport. Some enraged fans tweeted, “PISTONS RECRUITING A 35 YEAR OLD MAN THAT HASN’T HOOPED PROFESSIONALLY??????? YALL GON BE A** FOR A LONGGGGGG TIME”.

People soon started to lash out at Pistons' offer to Cole, tweeting that they are now rooting for entertainment playoffs, not real games. One user voiced the general sentiment of fans in a tweet that read, "Guess its time for me to stop being a pistons fan.” 

Others believe that now they cannot trust the Pistons anymore and can never bet on the team after this offer. A disappointed fan tweeted, “The Pistons won’t actually sign J Cole, but if they did give a contract to a 35 year old whose never played pro ball in his life, and would be a distraction more than an asset to the players before bringing back Christian Wood, I’d be mildly upset.”

Many fans tweeted that the NBA looks more like a business than a reputed sport as one need not qualify as a skilled player to play for a professional team. “Proof that you don't need skill to be in the NBA, you just need a lot of hype. It's a business not a sport lol. Not disrespecting anybody tho, i got mad love for cole.”

“This is why I can never put money on the Pistons they’re a joke and Blake Griffin is stealing money from em hasn’t done anything since he got there,” wrote a fan. Meanwhile, others were of the view that this is just an entertainment stunt. “I’m from the Detroit area so the pistons are my team, but they’re a** so I’m honestly just rooting for entertaining playoffs.”