Master P says J. Cole wants to pursue NBA career

J. Cole recently debuted his first signature basketball sneaker with Puma, and now it looks like the rapper is ready to take things one step further by trying out for an NBA team.

Hip-hop mogul Percy "Master P" Miller, who had stints in the NBA preseason with the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors in the 1990s, told TMZ Sports that Cole is training for a shot on 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.

"But, what I told him (is) this a different time we're in. They're going to pick you apart. You're gonna have to be able to hit every shot and if you don't hit every shot, they - you know in the NBA, they don't hit every shot, but they believe in them. So, you're gonna have to go somewhere where the team really believe in you and the players believe in you."

The 35-year-old Cole played basketball in high school and had dreams of one day making it to the NBA, which he wrote about in a piece published July 20 for The Players Tribune. He also strongly hinted at wanting to pursue a basketball career in a new Puma commercial narrated by Miller.

"One good thing that he have, he's been showing people that he's consistent and he's been in the gym," Miller said of Cole. "But now, proving that to the GMs, those scouts that's gonna come out there - they not just gonna let you in there no more ... either you're gonna be good enough to play or you're gonna get exposed."