Derrick Rose Against a Salary Cap in the NBA


The salary cap issue has become a major point of contention in the NBA labor talks lately, and Derrick Rose is against it (since he’s grossly underpaid as a result of the cap.) The AP reports: “Because of rookie salary scale restrictions, the league’s reigning MVP earns about $5.5 million a season — far less than other NBA stars. The scale is on the table between the league and players’ association during its extended labor dispute that could result in more games being canceled and might wipe out the season. Rose, in Hawaii this week visiting military personnel as part of the Hoops for Troops USO Tour, will undoubtedly earn a lot more when he becomes a free agent at the end of his four-year, $22.5 million contract, depending on the new agreement, of course. ‘I wish it was back like where it was in the old days where there wasn’t a cap,’ Rose told The Associated Press on Tuesday. ‘Back in the day, they were giving guys coming out of college multimillion-dollar contracts, so why stop it now? The game is growing. There’s no need to stop it.’ The union would like players to get out from the rookie salary scale quicker than five years. On Monday, union executive director Billy Hunter mentioned Rose and Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin during an hour-long podcast with ESPN.com as examples of players who are underpaid because there are still locked into their scale figures. The league said it has proposed a new bonus pool for top-performing rookie scale players who earn league honors as such as MVP or are on the All-NBA first, second or third teams.”