Jalen Rose claims NBA and NFL salary restrictions are a ‘residue of slavery’



Former NBA player Jalen Rose has made some bold claims — that salary caps in professional sports and restrictions preventing athletes from entering leagues straight out of high school are a “residue of slavery.”

“The only sports that have salary caps are black led, first off. So that’s basketball and football. Those [are] the only sports with salary caps. Baseball, golf, NASCAR, tennis, you can keep naming. ... That’s the first thing,” Rose explained on “Joe and Jada Unfiltered.”

“The second thing is they have no after-high-school restriction. And so that’s a residue of slavery, is because we’re going to get money off of you for multiple years for free,” he adds.


“A residue of slavery is probably Jalen Rose’s IQ at this point. That’s probably the residue of slavery that he’s referring to here,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock tells Steve Kim and Jay Skapinac on “Fearless.”

“It just drives me crazy that sports conversation is this stupid, this racialized. The National Hockey League has the harshest salary cap in all of sports. The top players probably making $7, $8, $9 million dollars. NFL players making $40, $50, $60 million dollars,” he adds.

“So here’s the other thing. When he brings up tennis and golf, guys, if I’m not mistaken, aren’t those guys’ winnings really their salary cap? Like if you win 10 tournaments, you’re probably going to get more than a guy that finishes in 18th place. That’s just the last time I checked,” Kim chimes in.

“It’s probably my whiteness, guys, coming through here, but I just really resent the implications that slavery is somehow tied into guys making multimillion-dollar generational wealth to play a game for a couple months a year for like 10 years of their life,” Skapinac adds.

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Jason Whitlock blasts Megan Rapinoe’s Trump comments as ‘childish’



While a viral video of Kash Patel putting a call from President Trump on speaker in the locker room after the U.S. men’s hockey team’s historic win at the Olympics had Americans everywhere proud and celebrating, some Americans took it a little differently.

Former U.S. women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe criticized the idea of teams engaging with the president, suggesting that she never would have allowed him or Patel into a locker room during her leadership tenure.

“I can’t believe ... how people have such a, like, a lack of self-preservation. But if you don’t think you’re in threat, then you’re not going to preserve. So they obviously didn’t think that having Kash Patel or having Trump on the phone was a threat, so they’re cool with it,” Rapinoe said on “A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe.”


“But that’s why you don’t put yourself in this position, because to have the president of the United States on the phone … you get yourself wrapped in this moment. So, for me, the choice point is, like, I would have never, as a captain or a leader on my team … I think that would have been clear to our staffs and to the larger organization and, like, support staff, those people would never been allowed in our locker room,” she continued.

“When did we divide the country so bad that we don’t even have the American backing — the support of America — to go to the Oval Office or to the president of the United States? I don’t remember any sports team denying —because of policy — going to the White House for America,” Coach J.B. tells Whitlock.

“Now, it’s because they hate this man so badly that they’ll put that over America. It blows my mind. I’m so shocked. I don’t hate nothing, Jason,” he adds.

“She might be the captain,” Steve Kim chimes in. “Who the hell made her the boss?”

“I don’t think Kash Patel or Donald Trump would want to come into that locker room. I don’t think they would watch your games. I don’t think they care enough. Let’s have some perspective. I think they care about certain sports or certain teams. Yours ain’t one of them,” he adds.

Whitlock isn’t impressed either.

“It’s so childish,” he tells J.B and Kim.

“It’s the president of the United States,” he adds.

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Racial double standard? White QB under fire for snubbing female reporter



ESPN sideline reporter Laura Rutledge went viral this past December when she had to press Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert to answer her postgame questions — and BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is impressed with her refusal to give up.

Herbert initially brushed off the reporter when she approached him, saying, “I’m trying to celebrate with my team.”

Rutledge wouldn’t take no for an answer and pressed him further, eventually pulling some answers out of the quarterback.

“Steve, I know you’ve covered a lot of sporting events. Have you ever seen that level of rudeness directed at a reporter? I just, that was incredible. She deserves a Purple Heart,” Whitlock asks BlazeTV contributor Steve Kim on “Fearless.”


“I have a question for those who were coming out and piling on Justin Herbert, who probably played the most physically taxing game I’ve seen any quarterback [play] this year. He’s probably banged up. He’s probably drugged up with all the pharmaceuticals, right, to get him out there,” Kim says.

“If that was a black quarterback, would those people dare have the same type of words for Justin Herbert like they would, let’s say its Lamar Jackson, and I’m just using him in this example,” he continues.

“I think Justin Herbert, being a white quarterback, it takes off some of the restrictions in terms of criticizing that particular athlete. I believe that Justin Herbert was banged up. He really doesn’t feel like talking, but at the end he said, ‘You know what? This is my job, I did it,’” he adds.

Whitlock sees both sides.

“I don’t blame her for not following protocol; as a reporter, that’s not what you do. Overtime game, it’s decided late, there’s an interception, and then you just go into scramble mode, and you just do what’s necessary to get the job done,” Whitlock chimes in.

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ESPN’s empire is crumbling — and Netflix and Amazon are 'ready to pounce'



ESPN’s reign as the king of sports media may be nearing its end.

BlazeTV contributor Paul Burkhardt is among those who believe this to be true, explaining that the network is “very vulnerable” as competitors like Netflix and Amazon prepare to make a “power play” that could permanently reshape the sports broadcasting landscape.

“I don’t think a lot of people are realizing — and I’ve been on this and been studying this now for probably about a year and a half — I believe ESPN is very vulnerable right now,” Burkhardt tells BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock and the rest of the panel on “Fearless.”

“And it’s the worst time for this to happen, because I think Netflix and Amazon are in a position to make the ultimate power play over the next, say, two to five years. They’ve already started to dabble into the games. They already have the leagues with them to some varying degree,” he continues.

“I think there’s a takedown about ready to happen, and I’m in line to watch it,” he adds.


Burkhardt believes that “Netflix and Amazon are ready to pounce.”

“I think that ESPN could be drunk on its success. ESPN has always had an overinflated sense of itself, particularly the on-air talent, because ESPN had such a monopoly on sports coverage that anybody you put on there was going to have the feeling of having a following,” Whitlock agrees.

“I don’t think Stephen A. Smith has a sincere following. I think he’s been forced down our throats on ESPN, but no one thinks Stephen A. Smith is talented. No one thinks he’s that informed or that insightful about sports,” he continues.

“It’s kind of reflective of the whole mentality of Hollywood and the leftist deal. … If they decide this person’s important; if they want to put Joe Biden in as president even though he’s half dead; if they decide, ‘Hey, no one likes Hillary Clinton, but we’re going to run her for president,’” he adds.

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LeBron’s ‘Second Decision’ leaves basketball fans FURIOUS



On Monday, October 6, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James teased a big announcement. Pitching it as “the Second Decision” — a parody of his infamous 2010 ESPN special where he revealed leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat — NBA fans held their breath in anticipation that the 40-year-old basketball veteran would either announce his retirement or a change in teams.

But no.

It turns out the big reveal has nothing to do with basketball at all. LeBron’s big announcement turned out to be a promotional campaign for a limited-edition Hennessy V.S.O.P cognac bottle collaboration, which will feature his signature “crowning” gesture.

Needless to say, basketball fans are infuriated. The manipulative clickbait marketing left them feeling emotionally exploited, especially considering LeBron’s recent hints at an impending end to his NBA career.

But Jason Whitlock is frustrated by something else: LeBron is yet again leaning deliberately into black stereotypes for marketing gain.

“If he was going to lean into a stereotype, at least he didn't lean into watermelon,” he scoffs.

“This is maddening,” says “Fearless” contributor Steve Kim, who was excited at the prospect of LeBron finally retiring or leaving the Lakers.

“He just won't go away, Whitlock. We're stuck with this guy,” he sighs.

Jason is ready for the LeBron mania to fizzle out, too, but for him, it’s less about basketball and more about LBJ’s impact on culture. He’s tired of the “Bronsexuals” — James’ most ardent, overly defensive fans who exhibit an intense, almost obsessive loyalty to him — “[pretending] like LeBron is some genius, that LeBron is some influencer that's ahead of the conversation.”

“I'm not sure if this dude can read, write, comprehend,” says Jason.

“This guy's got one of the biggest brands in all of America and he's ... [using] it to promote Hennessy” — the most “ghetto liquor in the world?” he asks.

The marketing ploy also proves that LeBron has learned nothing from his past mistakes. The original “Decision,” during which he announced his transition to Miami, was not received well by fans.

“He got ripped and destroyed from that, and you would think that he would learn a lesson from that and that 15 years later, he wouldn't be doing something to draw comparisons to ['the Decision'] and then to do something equally as small,” says Jason.

He can only assume that LeBron’s handlers — Adam Mendelsohn, Rich Paul, and Maverick Carter — are just as cognitively stunted as the drama king himself.

“They can't talk LeBron out of leaning into brown liquor stereotypes?” asks Jason, baffled.

He assumes that LeBron’s Hennessy collab will be defended by the usual tactic of playing the race card: “Anyone that criticizes this will be either an Uncle Tom or sellout like me, or they'll be a racist.”

Now that LeBron’s retirement is no longer on the table, Jason and Steve fear that the aging athlete will play until he’s 50 years old.

“He's certainly going to play until he can force his other son into the NBA,” says Jason.

“That might drive me to Hennessy,” Steve laughs.

To hear more of the conversation, watch the video above.

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Magazine MILKS Belichick-Hudson humiliation ritual



Bill Belichick has accomplished a lot in his football career, but now he’s added another completely different notch to his belt. That is, the North Carolina head coach has become the first coach ever featured on the cover of Us Weekly magazine with his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.

And BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock does not believe it’s a good thing.

“I’ve heard of midlife crisis ... but on the cover of a magazine with your sugar baby? This, to me, this feels like some sort of ritual, humiliation ritual,” Whitlock says.

“And it couldn’t have come at a worse time,” BlazeTV contributor Steve Kim chimes in. “Look, I understand the way the media works a little bit, and I’m sure this cover was planned out months ago, but to come out on the same week after you get just blown away by USF and on a game day where, once again, she’s on the sideline before the game, I think that’s the greatest irony.”


And BlazeTV contributor T.J. Moe points out that it’s going even worse for Belichick than just poor optics.

“There’s a lawsuit right now going on. It got filed today, where one of the former administrators is suing UNC for hiring Belichick behind closed doors. This is how poorly this is going,” Moe explains.

“This is how upset UNC is right now with the hiring of Bill Belichick,” he says, noting, “and they’re embarrassed about it.”

“I don’t have another explanation other than he’s so tied up in this 24-year-old that he was willing to sacrifice his entire reputation and his life,” he adds.

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Whitlock: White-girl magic invades the WNBA



It’s no secret that the WNBA has long been a black-dominated league, but BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is shocked to see that the early leading candidates for MVP are white.

He calls them “great white hopes.”

“White women have invaded the WNBA and are dominating the WNBA, and I think there’s a reason why. I think, honest to goodness, I think sports are being dominated by two-parent-family kids,” Whitlock says, adding, “The era of the baby-mama professional sports leagues is coming to an end.”

Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, and Napheesa Collier are all leading candidates, and Whitlock couldn’t be happier to see it.

However, BlazeTV contributor Steve Kim worries that there could be “dishonest types of agendas being thrown around to make sure that certain players don’t win it.”


“Not this year,” Whitlock says. “Unless Napheesa Collier gets hurt, she’s going to win it in a landslide.”

Whitlock believes that the trend he’s seeing largely has to do with children and teens who play basketball needing to travel to play in tournaments.

“That’s a two-parent experience,” he says. “That’s not a one-parent situation.”

He also believes that the cultural pushback against police and religion has negatively impacted children’s sports in the black community.

“You don’t have a daddy; there’s a policeman or a fireman or some law enforcement official that’s got a league to try to develop you, to get you on a path away from criminality, or whatever; there’s the church league. That’s all being pushed out,” he explains.

“And so now, there is no safety net for the kids that don’t have intact families, and the expense of traveling, the free time to travel, only two-parent families can handle,” he adds.

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Brittney Griner’s optics RUINED by Caitlin Clark fans



In the middle of a halftime interview, WNBA star Brittney Griner interrupted the conversations to yell at the referees for “blowing a call” and revealed her true colors to fans all over the country.

“No one wants to see that,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock tells BlazeTV contributor Steve Kim on “Fearless.” “And look, I’m going to be hypocritical, or double standard, if that were a man in a men’s league, I think people would be more tolerant of it.”

“But to see women behaving that way, behaving as men, being as profane, trying to be as intimidating,” Whitlock continues, “This is why they don’t want fans like me paying attention. That kind of stuff could go on in the old days, and it would be a tree falling in the woods. No one would complain because no one saw it.”


“So you’re not a fan of her being authentically Brittney,” Kim responds.

In another clip of Griner during a game against the Indiana Fever, it appears that she’s saying something negative about “white girls” through lip reading and clear anger through her body language.

Kim doesn’t believe it matters what Griner said as it’s during a heated game, and Whitlock agrees — but notes the fallout would be different for someone like Caitlin Clark.

“Steve, I’m right there with you. It doesn’t matter to me what Brittney Griner said there in the heat of the moment. You’re absolutely right,” Whitlock says. “If Caitlin Clark’s on camera mouthing the words ‘black girl,’ it doesn’t matter in what context. She’d get strung up.”

“This is why they don’t want Caitlin Clark fans paying attention, because we’ll question things that previously would never be questioned,” he adds.

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Jordon Hudson just doing her job? Cowherd DEFENDS infamous age-gap couple



The recent CBS interview with Bill Belichick, where his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson interrupted to steer the conversation, has been the subject of some serious controversy the past couple of weeks — but one sports commentator is standing by Belichick’s side.

Colin Cowherd recently defended the couple on his show, “The Herd,” where he admitted that the interview was “cringy” but explained that Hudson is just doing her job.

“She’s his PR director. She’s Bill’s influencer, which he didn’t need in the NFL, but you actually do in college. I thought this was kind of a cringy thing, but she is multiple things for Bill. Assistant, girlfriend, social media producer, PR handler. She fills a lot of roles, and people are kind of uncomfortable with it,” Cowherd said.


“Sometimes in life, you don’t have to wear a headset to call plays. She’s calling plays for Bill, which he didn’t need in the NFL, but he actually does in college football where players now select you,” he continued.

“As I watched this interview, I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve watched interviews like this, CEOs have people like Jordon Hudson.’ You know, presidents, politicians, senators, governors, media execs, they all have people like Jordon Hudson,’” he added.

Jason Whitlock of “Fearless” isn’t quite on the same page.

“I’ve seen it, too, and Monica Lewinsky was not a PR director, she was an intern,” Whitlock says, adding, “Colin left out a description here of her, you know, one of her titles is concubine, I believe. And so he left that out.”

“Yeah, this may be his worst take since the ‘party of joy,’” BlazeTV contributor Steve Kim chimes in. “If she was just in the background, and we never really saw her, I don’t think most people would even care about this anymore.”

“The issue becomes, or is becoming, that she is becoming more and more of an influence, and it just looks kind of strange,” he adds.

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DEI ‘makes the NFL better’: Roger Goodell REFUSES to stop woke initiatives



While President Donald Trump is attempting to undo all the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives the previous administration forced on Americans, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is standing firm in his support for DEI.

“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we’re going to continue those efforts, because we’re not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven ourselves that it does make the NFL better,” Goodell said in a recent press conference.

“So we’re not in this because it’s a trend to get in it, or a trend to get out of it, our efforts are fundamental in trying to attract the best possible talent into the National Football League both on and off the field,” he added.

Jason Whitlock of “Fearless” isn’t even close to being convinced.


“I wish he would point to an example of the clear proof,” Whitlock says, adding, “Give me something tangible rather than just platitudes.”

Steve Kim doesn’t just agree but believes DEI is itself “very un-American.”

“Here’s the issue, do all the DEI initiatives you want, put all the slogans you want in the back of the end zone, put it on the 50 yard line. Nobody cares. We’re at that point now in American society, we either are ignoring it or we have an incredible amount of apathy towards it,” Kim says.

“You can have a platform, that’s great. We can choose to ignore it. You can have a message, we can choose to disagree with it. But no longer do we have to pander and pretend that we give a s*** about whatever you’re saying,” he adds.

Whitlock, again, just wants “to see proof that it works.”

“Handing out jobs based on a color code and based on who’s sleeping with who, or who you’re sexually attracted to — show me that it works,” he says.

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