Rapper J. Cole has made amends with former basketball power forward Shane Battier after he dissed him in one of his tracks. In his 2011 song Rise and Shine from the album Cole World: The Sideline Story, the rapper sang the lines,
“We in two different games, you playin' patty cake; Brother you're lame, you're Shane Battier; You out of shape, my mind run a mile a minute”
In a recent episode of the Glue Guys podcast, Shane Battier revealed he met the rapper in Miami while having dinner at a hotel. The head waiter reached out to Battier and said a gentleman wanted to speak and apologize to him. He thought it was some sort of a prank but then realized it was not. While speaking to the podcast hosts, he said,
“And sure enough I go over, around the corner J Cole was way bigger than I thought, real life basketball like 6’5”. He’s a big dude and he’s like ‘Hey man, like I was praying for this moment that we would have this moment to where I can say you know what man, my bad, I was young. I’m sorry for you catching a stray."
The basketball star thought that the rapper was a Carolina fan and that his team would sometimes take them down, which made J Cole mad and led him to diss Shane Battier in the track.
Battier expressed understanding, acknowledging the challenges of the rap industry. He appreciated the humility shown by the rapper who had previously called him out, noting that he found the situation amusing rather than upsetting.
J. Cole loved music before he developed a knack for basketball
J. Cole explained how he came to enjoy basketball in an interview with veteran basketball executive Bob Myers on ESPN in 2023.The rapper said he loved music as a child and even owned Michael Jackson and Bobby Brown tapes. However, he developed a taste for the sport much later after seeing his peers do the same. Mentioning that basketball was a delusion for him, Cole said,
“So even when I was playing basketball, it was delusion. It was like, I thought that I was just like a six-year-old that thinks he is going to the NBA.”
He continued,
“Then you have me at six yeah I am going to the NBA, it’s like you are on no path, you don’t have the early skills or early signs. It’s just a delusion so I think my love for basketball, yes I love playing, I was highly competitive but my love was not in the form of work. I didn’t have anybody to show me.”
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J. Cole also reflected on his experience of being cut from his basketball team in ninth grade. He initially blamed others and made excuses instead of recognizing his shortcomings.
After being cut again the following year, he described it as a humbling experience that forced him to confront reality. Despite the disappointment, he expressed gratitude for those setbacks, as they ultimately shaped his perspective and resilience.
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