Coronavirus: Basketball stars come together to cover salaries of arena workers after NBA season gets suspended
NBA season for 2019-2020 was canceled on March 12 after one of the Utah Jazz players, Rudy Gobert, reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. This suspension has affected thousands of employees across the country, who work by the hour at basketball arenas. Needless to say, their earnings would take a major hit.
To help them, however, basketball stars have decided to come forward. Players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson and Blake Griffin have decided to cover the salaries of these workers. The NBA players will be donating thousands of dollars to cover the pay.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Antetokounmpo tweeted, "It's bigger than basketball! And during this tough time I want to help the people that make my life, my family's lives and my teammates lives easier. Me and my family pledge to donate $100,000 to the Fiserv Forum staff. We can get through this together!"
Smoothie King Center employees' salary for the next 30 days will be covered by Williamson, the forward for New Orleans Pelicans, according to his announcement on Instagram. He said, "these are the folks who make our games possible, creating the perfect environment for our fans and everyone involved in the organization."
He added, "this is a small way for me to express my support and appreciation for these wonderful people who have been so great to me and my teammates and hopefully we can all join together to relieve some of the stress and hardship caused by this national health crisis."
Griffin, who is in his third season with the Pistons, also made $100,000 donation, for workers at the Little Caeser Arena.
The Golden State Warriors made an announcement on Friday and said that the franchise coaches and players would donate $1M towards disaster relief fund for the employees of Chase Center. Warriors' guard Stephen Curry said: "The men and women who work during our games at Chase Center are critical in providing an incredible game-night experience for our fans, including of course, the popcorn vendors."
The donation from players began to come through after Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced that he had put a program in place to support employees who work at arenas. He said, "I reached out to the folks at the arena and our folks at the Mavs to find out what it would cost to financially support people who aren't going to be able to come to work."
According to a report in CNN he further added, "They get paid by the hour, and this was their source of income. So, we'll do some things there. We may ask them to go do some volunteer work in exchange, but we've already started the process of having a program in place. I don't have any details to give, but it's certainly something that's important to me."