Ex-NBA star claims there's 'residue of slavery' in pro sports leagues that have salary caps

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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 the "Joe and Jada Unfiltered" 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