And-Ones: T. Brown, J. Cole, E. Reid, Klutch

NBA referee Tony Brown will miss the rest of the regular season and postseason after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the NBA announced today in a press release. A 19-year veteran, Brown worked his first NBA Finals in 2020. He’s currently receiving treatment following his diagnosis.

“Tony is a beloved member of the NBA family, and in particular, our officiating family,” NBA senior VP Monty McCutchen said in a statement. “In addition to exemplifying what it means to be a world class referee on the court, Tony also touches so many lives off the court. The NBA officiating family and the entire NBA family stand behind Tony with thoughts and prayers as he embarks upon this courageous battle.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

• J. Cole is set to play for the Rwanda Patriots BBC in the first season of the Basketball Africa League, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The rapper, whose given name is Jermaine Lamarr Cole, was a walk-on at St. John’s but never played a Division I game before shifting his focus to his music career.
• The new Overtime League, which hopes to provide top high school prospects with an alternate developmental path, is still seeking its first major commitment, according to Adam Zagoria of Forbes (Twitter link), who hears that five-star recruit Efton Reid passed on a six-figure offer from the league, opting instead to commit to LSU.
• Former player agent Andy Miller is joining Klutch Sports and will lead a new division of representation for NBA coaches and executives, Klutch CEO Rich Paul tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
• Evan Drellich and Seth Partnow of The Athletic takes a closer look at Zelus Analytics, a startup sports analytics company that has been received with “a mixture of interest and skepticism” in NBA circles, according to the duo.