Tag: j. cole

WATCH: Talen Horton-Tucker, J. Cole working out with Lakers assistant Phil Handy

Check out Talen Horton-Tucker and J. Cole working out on the court with Los Angeles Lakers assistant Phil Handy.

The Los Angeles Lakers entered the offseason early after losing in the first round of the NBA playoffs, which gave players more time to focus on other matters.

The Lakers had around only 70 days of rest last offseason, so the players would have significantly more time to relax their bodies this time around to prepare for next season.

However, for players like Talen Horton-Tucker, he’s been grinding it out for weeks since the Lakers were eliminated.

Horton-Tucker is entering free agency as a restricted free agent this summer because his rookie contract is coming to an end. The Lakers can match any offer that teams submit for him, but L.A. must operate with caution if potential offers do come Horton-Tucker’s way.

The second-round pick in 2019 had a breakout campaign with the Lakers because he inserted himself as a possible rotational player going forward. He also showed the ability to create his own shot off the bounce, which was a trait many reserves in L.A. didn’t have.

As Horton-Tucker prepares for next season, he’s been seen in various videos working out on his body and with trainers on developing aspects of his game.

Recently, Horton-Tucker was in a video working out on the basketball court with recording artist J. Cole and Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy, via Handy’s Twitter:

Horton-Tucker’s work ethic and commitment to evolving his game have been on full display this offseason. Only time will tell if those improvements will be with the Lakers or another NBA team.

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J. Cole scores first pro points in Basketball Africa League debut

On Sunday, rapper J. Cole made his professional basketball debut as the Basketball Africa League tipped off its inaugural season in Rwanda.

On Sunday, rapper J. Cole made his professional basketball debut as the Basketball Africa League tipped off its inaugural season at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda.

Cole, whose real name is Jermaine Cole, recorded three points, three rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes for the Rwanda Patriots Basketball Club. Cole got on the board late in the first quarter with a putback layup following a missed shot from Steve Hagumintwari.

The Grammy Award winner played basketball in high school before briefly walking on at St. John’s. The debut by Cole came just two days after releasing his latest studio album, “The Off-Season,” on Friday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glZtR90Ic50

The BAL is a collaboration between the NBA and FIBA featuring 12 teams from 12 countries across Africa. Each team will have up to 13 players, at least nine of whom are citizens in their respective team’s home country and up to four of whom are from other countries.

The 12 teams will be placed into three groups of four. During the group phase, each team will face the three other teams in its group once. The top eight teams from the group phase will qualify for the playoffs, which will be single elimination in all three rounds.

In the United States, all BAL games will be available on ESPN+ with the first game and Finals also airing on ESPNews. NBA TV will broadcast 12 live games and select games on delay in the U.S. and around the world across the group phase, quarterfinals, semifinals and Finals.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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4 NBA references in J. Cole’s new album, ‘The Off-Season’

The Off-Season is here!

J. Cole’s new album, The Off-Season, dropped on Friday, and it’s already getting some rave reviews.

It’s also chock full of NBA shout-outs, with lines about some of the biggest stars in hoops sprinkled into a few of the tracks, and some those stars in turn have responded on Twitter, excited to hear the rapper, singer, songwriter, and hoops star featured them on here.

There may be more than we’ve listed here, but thus far, this is a look at some of the lyrics — and a sample of some lines from the NBA’s best rapper — that include shout-outs to NBA names.

PUMA launches J. Cole DREAMER contest featuring LaMelo Ball

Puma launched the DREAMER contest for the re-release of J. Cole’s original shoe with a grand prize that includes meeting LaMelo Ball.

In celebration of the re-release of J. Cole’s first signature shoe, the original RS-Dreamer, Puma announced on Monday a contest featuring LaMelo Ball.

PUMA and Dreamville’s DREAMER contest will see one winner and up to four guests win a grand prize that will feature meeting Ball. The winner will win a flight to North Carolina on the Puma Jet with a DREAMER experience compliments of Dreamville, a VIP meet-up with Ball and a private training sessions with NBA trainer Chris Brickley.

The winner will also receive each of the PUMA DREAMER shoes that are releasing this year from March through December and a cash grand prize of $20,000.

The DREAMER Contest kicked off on March 5 and runs until Tuesday, March 9, at 11:59 p.m. EST. To enter the contest, fans will have to follow @PUMAHoops and @Dreamer on Instagram or @PumaHoops on Twitter and either Tweet or share an Instagram post with a photo and caption depicting and describing their dreams using the hashtags #DREAMER and #CONTEST. The best submission will be chosen as the winner.

Super Mario has a new Puma shoe and it looks as ridiculous as you’d think

Word? Word.

Puma is collecting video game characters on their sneaker roster like Thanos collected the Infinity Stones.

First, they landed Sonic right before the Sonic The Hedgehog movie dropped a few years ago. Now, apparently, they’ve bagged Super Mario.

In celebrating the virtual plumber’s 35th anniversary as Nintendo’s premier flagship, Puma is dropping a new RS-Dreamer J Cole sneaker in a Super Mario Nintendo colorway.

And, yes, if you’re keeping tabs on how many collaborations that it’s, it’s J Cole x Super Mario x Puma. Wait a sec. Isn’t this supposed to be a basketball sneaker?

Anyway, it looks absolutely ridiculous. Would I still wear it? Absolutely. This is incredible.

This feels like a collaboration for the sake of collaborating, but it’s still fun! Even if it is a weird mashup. Maybe there’s some Super Mario DLC for the Super Mario 3D All-Stars game coming up where he gets to wear these? Probably wishful thinking.

Either way, this is dope. My only question is who is up next for Puma? I’m putting my money on Donkey Kong or Mega Man.

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No word yet if J. Cole will accept the …

No word yet if J. Cole will accept the invitation, which was hatched when Pistons senior vice president of marketing Alicia Jeffreys noticed the item (via TMZ) that hip-hop OG Master P, who suited up for the Toronto Raptors during 1999 preseason, is taking J. Cole seriously. What started as a simple marketing attempt paid off with social media buzz and a mention on ESPN’s daily NBA program, “The Jump.”

It’s an example of the perspective …

It’s an example of the perspective chief business officer Mike Zavodsky, who was hired in June to oversee sales, marketing and creative operations, brings to the Pistons. He was lured from entertainment agency Roc Nation, where he served as an executive in charge of sports and event sales. The new position reports to Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem. Prior to his stint with Roc Nation, Zavodsky cut his teeth with the Nets organization, where he spent 14 years. Zavodsky recently spoke with Pistons.com and in just under 20 minutes, he discussed J. Cole, the attractiveness of the Pistons brand and his plans for the new position.