As is the case with many people, J. Cole had other plans for his life that didn’t revolve around music. In his younger days, Cole was dead-set on carving out a legit basketball career. He played basketball all the way through high school, but rap was where his true future lied.

Cole put basketball on the backburner to focus on music, although he never fully let it go. Many of his music projects referenced his basketball days, and Cole has mentioned before that he used the competitiveness of basketball and sports to translate it to the rap game.

Following the successful release in February of what is considered to be his final studio album, Cole has once again reignited his basketball passion. Despite being 41 years old now, this week Cole signed with the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the Chinese Basketball Association.

J Cole shoots well but struggled defensively in first warmup with Nanjing Monkey Kings

No one is expecting too much from Cole due to his age and the lack of competitive play he has under his belt, but he did surprise some people during his first practice with the team. His jump-shooting ability particularly stood out, but it wasn’t all positive: his defense needs a lot of work.

Cole joins a Monkey Kings team with only a few Americans on the roster. The team played a game following Cole’s practice, which was a pre-game warmup. He will need to ramp up his cardio and get in basketball form before taking the court for real action.