In one of the more bizarre statements of the week, former ESPN analyst Jalen Rose accused the NBA and NFL of echoing the ethos of slavery by implementing salary caps.
"The only sports that have salary caps are black-led. First off, that’s basketball and football," Rose said during an appearance on the "Joe and Jada" podcast. "Those are the only sports with salary caps. Baseball, golf, NASCAR, tennis, you can keep naming. They do not have a salary cap. That’s the first thing. It’s correct."
"The second thing is they have no after high school restriction," he continued. "And so that’s a residue of slavery. It’s because we’re going to get money off of you for multiple years for free."
There are a few ways to respond to Rose’s declaration. We’ll take them one at a time.
First, his facts are wrong. Basketball and football are not the only professional sports with salary caps. The NHL also operates under a salary cap system and is a predominantly white league. Black players account for about 24 percent of MLS, another league with a salary cap.
Major League Baseball does not currently have a formal salary cap, though labor discussions ahead of the 2027 collective bargaining agreement are expected to include renewed debate over the issue.
The other sports Rose cites are not comparable. Golf, NASCAR, and tennis are individual sports. Salary caps exist to promote competitive balance among teams that share national revenue and compete for player contracts. The structure simply does not translate to individual competitions, where athletes are not signed to franchises in the same way.
Jalen Rose speaks onstage 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 February 13, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by JC Olivera/Getty Images for Prime Video)
Rose’s broader argument follows a familiar pattern. He often reaches for racial explanations when none are evident, and the results tend to collapse under basic scrutiny. Per usual, the demand for racism so vastly outstrips the supply.
In 2020, for example, Rose complained that media coverage focused more on Jimmy Garoppolo’s appearance than Lamar Jackson’s performance.
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