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Former NBA star Jalen Rose suggested in a recent podcast there was a racial aspect behind certain professional sports leagues having a salary cap.
Rose appeared on a live edition of the “Joe and Jada Unfiltered” podcast last week and said the “only sports that have salary caps are Black led” as he talked about his problem with the system. He named leagues like MLB, NASCAR, golf and tennis that do not have salary caps. Though, he failed to mention that the NHL has a salary cap as roughly two dozen NHL players are Black.
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Jalen Rose speaks on stage during Joe and Jada live podcast recording in celebration of Prime Video McDonald’s All American Games documentary Meal Ticket at The Miracle Theater on Feb. 13, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (JC Olivera/Getty Images for Prime Video)
“The second thing is they have no after high school restrictions,” he continued. “So, that’s a residue of slavery because we’re going to get money off of you for multiple years for free. There’s no way around it. So, what happened in the game, it became so obvious because of social media and because of information, it’s like ‘We’re making a billion dollars, we gotta pay them something. That’s how it ended up happening.”
The member of the “Fab Five” Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team added he was “happy” to see players get paid off of their name, image and likeness. But, “if you notice, you still got to pay the system,” he said.
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Ray Jackson, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose and Jimmy King of the Michigan Wolverines basketball, collectively known as the “Fab Five.” (ALAN R. KAMUDA, Detroit Free Press)
Rose said another issue of his was eligibility for the pros. He noted that in the NFL, players usually have to be three years removed from high school to enter the NFL. He pointed to all-time greats in the NBA like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett have been productive coming out high school. He didn’t mention the careers of Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, DeSagna Diop and countless others who fizzled out without playing college basketball.
In baseball, high school players come out and get drafted but start their careers in the minor leagues.
Mike Epps and Jalen Rose are seen in attendance during game six of the eastern conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 31, 2025. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)
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MLB is expected to have a fight about whether to have a salary cap in the next round of collective bargaining talks. The league appears to be ready to push for one, while the players have been opposed.
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