Former NBA swingman Shane Battier carved out a career as a reliable role player, popularizing the hand-in-the-face style of contesting shots.
It caught the attention of one person enough that he subtly dissed Battier on a song.
Battier caught a stray from rapper J. Cole on "Rise and Shine," a 2011 song that appeared on his No. 1 album "Cole World: The Sideline Story." J. Cole rapped: "Brother you're lame, you're Shane Battier. You out of shape."
The two-time NBA champion and former Duke Blue Devils star reflected on the rhyme during a recent episode of his "Glue Guys" podcast. Battier said most kids know him from either the NBA 2K video game or the J. Cole song.
Battier presumed that J. Cole, who was raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and is a North Carolina Tar Heels fan, was upset that Battier beat the Tar Heels "on the reg[ular]."
"So I'm like he was probably just mad, but you know what? I probably am lame. So I owned it, I didn't care," he said. "But like if you go on [X] or Instagram, kids just recite lyrics ... so like I became known as the lame guy."
Battier and Cole had an encounter at a Miami restaurant while having dinner last summer. The maître d' approached Battier and said that the rapper wanted to come over and apologize to him.
"I'm like OK, who's bulls---ting me," Battier joked.
But the maître d' was telling the truth. The Grammy Award-winning artist spotted Battier and offered an apology, explaining that he prayed for the moment to speak to Battier.
Real one!
— Team DREAMVILLE (@TeamDreamville) December 5, 2024
J. Cole apologized to Shane Battier for the stray he caught on "Rise & Shine" 😂 pic.twitter.com/EumNrSOhYS
The former Miami Heat forward accepted J. Cole's apology, understanding the connection to the rap game.
"I appreciated the humility of a guy who put me on blast and I wasn't angry," Battier said. "I thought it was funny."
Battier averaged 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists across 13 NBA seasons. He won back-to-back championships with the Heat in 2012 and 2013 before retiring the next year.
