Photos: J. Cole seen hooping in Nike Kobe 8s at a basketball facility, curious Twitter user questions, "Isn't this n**ga with Puma?"

J. Cole is a popular rapper who performed at the halftime show of the 2019 NBA All-Star game. The rapper loves basketball and has played it professionally for a short duration. However, his most recent outing on the basketball court is somewhat controversial and could get him into trouble.

SLAM Kicks posted a slideshow of J. Cole playing basketball in Nike's Kobe 8s shoes. This normally wouldn't be an issue, but the popular rapper has a contract with Puma, who have developed his signature shoes.

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J. Cole wearing Nike shoes is not a good look for Puma

With a market cap of $168 billion, Nike is the biggest footwear company in the world. It's way ahead of its competitors, with second-placed Adidas having a market cap of $26.05 billion.

Puma has been in the top 5 for a long time and is currently the fourth-biggest footwear company. Competing with Nike is almost impossible in 2022, but Puma is doing its best.

In July 2020, J. Cole revealed his plans to play professional basketball. A few days later, the rapper announced his collaboration with Puma and the release of his signature sneakers called the RS-Dreamer.

The rapper's signature shoes were seen in the NBA as well. Several athletes affiliated with Puma wore them, including Kyle Kuzma, Deandre Ayton, and Danny Green.

Twitter users had interesting reactions to the tweet posted by SLAM. They wondered if J. Cole was allowed to wear Nike shoes despite his contract with another shoe brand.

Some began to question whether he still had a deal with Puma.

The popular rapper is wearing shoes from other brands and it is a bad look for the company. It's a way to express that Puma shoes are not good enough for basketball, which could cost him a contract with the company.

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J. Cole appears on the NBA 2K23 Dreamer Edition cover

NBA 2K is the most popular basketball video game in the world. 2K Sports has established dominance over video games and the latest installment of the game, NBA 2K23, was released just a few days ago.

NBA 2K23 has a special edition with the popular rapper (Image via 2K Sports)

Cole was featured on the NBA 2K23 Dreamer Edition cover. This is the first time that a rapper has been featured on the cover of a popular video game. While J. Cole does have some basketball experience, he is primarily an artist.

This edition of the video game, however, is only available on current-gen consoles. This means that PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gamers cannot obtain it.