Norris Cole’s Blind Faith Ruined His NBA Career Despite Boasting 2 Championships, Issues a Warning to Young Athletes

Vying for the playoff spots, the Miami Heat gained a thrilling 109-99 win over the Knicks. While the Heatles gear up for the next match against the Philadelphia 76ers, a former Heat player issued a strict warning for the young NBA players. The 2x NBA champion, Norris Cole, has faced his fair share of ordeals, learned from them, and grown over them. Now, while he looks for one last chance in the NBA, the player warned the young players about one naïve mistake he made during his career.

During his appearance in the latest episode of ‘The OG’s Podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller,’ NBA star Norris Cole spoke about how he had blind faith in his agent who handled his business deals and contract negotiations. And that was his lapse in life. He wasn’t involved in any of his deal negotiations, and some of the grave decisions landed him out of the NBA. 

Cole said, “I learned a hard lesson about the business of basketball man. For y’all young fellas out there, when you have an agent, make sure you’re involved in what’s going on. Don’t just let them handle stuff behind the scenes without you knowing but it was my first time in free agency I didn’t know that. So I had a powerful agent, and I let him do everything all the negotiates I didn’t even think twice.”

He added that his agent had made shabby negotiations that ruined his reputation. “But he did some bad negotiation. You just got to call it what it is, and I caught wind of it late, and I ended up firing them, and you know when you fire a powerful agent, you know of course they are gonna save face. And you know that’s what happened, and you know tried to make it seem like I was the greedy one, which in reality I wasn’t.”

Not just Cole, but many NBA veterans have previously mentioned that it’s a boon that the current NBA players are more aware of their business than the previous generation was. For Norris Cole, he looks set for his final hurdle. 

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Norris Cole wishes to return to the NBA!

Cole joined the Miami Heat in 2011 and went on to win the championship alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Following this, he played for the New Orleans Pelicans and lastly for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017. Following that, he went on to play overseas for six seasons. And he finally joined the NBA G League with the Grand Rapids Gold during the 2022-23 season. During his run, Cole averaged 7.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.8 rebounds.

Last year, he signed with G League Ignite. However, after traveling the world, Cole still has one wish- which is to get a chance in the NBA again. During his appearance in one episode of G League docuseries, ‘The Break presented by the General,’ Cole said, “I enjoyed my time overseas, but right now my goal is to play in the NBA. I want to give it every chance that I have to get back in. I’m willing to make the sacrifice of turning down bigger contracts overseas to play in the G League and give it a chance to get back up.”

His former teammate, Udonis Haslem, has also vouched for Cole. During the podcast, Haslem emphasized that the current teams need veterans like Cole to win the championship. What is your take on this? Let us know in the comments section.

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