This is Important: Athletes Doing Their Part in the Pandemic

How Professional Athletes and Organizations are Giving Back During the Pandemic

It’s all over the news and you’ve probably read a hundred articles updating sports fans on what officials are doing as a result of the Coronavirus. The cancelation of all NCAA tournaments, creating March Sadness and the Corona World Series in place of March Madness and the College World Series was only the beginning. Not to mention the the postponing and suspension of the NBA, NHL, MLB 2020 seasons.

During the suspension of games, concern has been centered around those stadium and arena workers who are going without a paycheck. Players like NBA’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson, and Kevin Love, and NHL’s Sergei Bobrovsky have decided to do their part in supporting employees of the arenas they call home.

Here’s a list of athletes and organizations giving back (provided by cbssports.com). Check out what your team is doing.

• Atlanta Braves: All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman has pledged $50,00 to the Atlanta Food Bank and $50,000 to the Giving Kitchen, a program that provides emergency assistance to food service workers. Freeman has also donated $25,000 to the Salvation Army, bringing his total outlay to $125,000.
• Atlanta Hawks: Team owner Tony Ressler told Hawks CEO Steve Koonin two weeks before the league decided to go on a hiatus that “if we shut down, we have to take care of our part-time employees,” as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Sarah K. Spencer. 
• Boston Celtics: The Celtics will reportedly be paying game-night staff through the remainder of the regular season, per MassLive’s John Karalis.
• Brooklyn Nets: In response to Nets’ guard Spencer Dinwiddie tweeting about taking care of non-salaried arena workers, team owner Joe Tsai responded by saying the franchise is putting a plan in place to help out Barclays Center staff. That plan includes paying non-salaried workers the paychecks they would typically receive through May if the remainder of the Nets games were played, in addition to non-Nets events such as concerts.
• Charlotte Hornets: In a press release, the Hornets announced that team owners and players were coming together to help pay for the salaries of part-time workers at Spectrum Center who were previously scheduled to work any upcoming Hornets or G League Greensboro Swarm games through April 13.
• Chicago Bulls: The Bulls announced that they would pay game-day employees through all previously scheduled Bulls and Blackhawks games. 
• Chicago Cubs: Jason Heyward donated $200,000 to coronavirus relief in Chicago, split between two organizations. Heyward is giving $100,000 each to the Greater Chicago Food Depository and MASK, an organization that is collecting supplies and food for families impacted by the virus.

• Cleveland Cavaliers: Kevin Love became the first player in the league to donate money to event staff at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse when he announced on social media that he would give $100,000 to those workers. The Cavaliers followed their star forward and announced on Twitter that they would be taking care of all hourly staff.
• Dallas Mavericks: When the league announced postponement, team owner Mark Cuban wasted no time in making it clear that he would make sure all the employees who work events and games at the American Airlines Center would be paid during the hiatus. The Mavericks also released a statement saying that they plan to reimburse employees for breakfast and lunch purchases from Dallas-area restaurants in an effort to not only help those employees but local businesses as well.
• Denver Nuggets: In a press release, team owner Josh Kroenke announced that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment will provide financial compensation for all the workers at the Pepsi Center affected by the lost wages due to the NBA’s current hiatus.
• Detroit Pistons: Blake Griffin will be donating $100,000 to the workers inside Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, per The Detroit News’ Rod Beard.
• Golden State Warriors: Warriors ownership, players, and coaches will contribute $1 million to a disaster relief fund for Chase Center employees, the team announced. “The men and women who work our games at Chase Center are critical in providing an incredible game-night experience for our fans,” Warriors guard Steph Curry said. “As players, we wanted to do something along with our ownership and coaches to help ease the pain during this time.” 
• Houston Astros: Astros star George Springer joined the growing list of stars within the sports world to go into their own pockets to help others impacted by the spread of the coronavirus by pledging to donate $100,000 to Minute Maid Park employees.  
• Indiana Pacers: Pacers owner Herb Simon has given financial aid to the part-time workers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, per Bob Kravitz of The Athletic. 
• Houston Rockets: Team CEO Tad Brown said that the franchise is getting a plan together to take care of all hourly workers at Toyota Center, per The Houston Chronicle’s Johnathan Feigen.
• Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers: The Clippers and Lakers, both tenants of the Staples Center, along with the Kings of the NHL, announced Saturday that they have created a fund to compensate over 2,800 part-time and contract workers that typically staff Staples Center for NBA and NHL games. This includes employees such as team statisticians, announcers, and dance teams. Also, Lakers star forward Anthony Davis announced a partnership with Lineage Logistics that will help Staples Center workers find work while the NBA is suspended. Davis and Lineage will also match up to $250,000 in donations for Feed the Frontlines LA, an organization that is aiming to raise money to purchase food from local restaurants to deliver it to hospital workers. 
• Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies will be compensating all game night employees for any games missed through the end of the year, according to Geoff Calkins of The Daily Memphian.
• Miami Heat: The Heat will provide funds to their partners in food and beverage services, security and housekeeping in order to help pay their part-time arena staffers, the team announced. Additionally, the Arison family, owners of the Heat, will donate $1 million to a fund dedicated to helping those part-time workers. 

• Milwaukee Bucks: Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo took to Twitter to announce that he will be donating $100,000 to workers at Fiserv Forum, saying “It’s bigger than basketball.”
• Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns is donating $100,000 to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to aid in providing testing for COVID-19. 
• Major League Baseball: The league donated $1 million to emergency food services, and each team pledged $1 million for ballpark workers affected by the shutdown. It has also announced support for minor-leaguers, who haven’t been paid since August. 

• New Orleans Pelicans: No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Zion Williamson, announced on his Instagram that he’s pledging to cover the salaries of all workers at Smoothie King Center for the next 30 days.
• New York Knicks: Madison Square Garden reportedly plans to pay event staff, including employees who work Knicks and Rangers games, until May. 
• Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder released a statement stating that they will offer financial assistance to both the part-time stadium workers that they employ directly and the ones who technically work for ASM Global.
• Philadelphia 76ers: The hourly workers at Wells Fargo Center will be compensated during the NBA’s hiatus, per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark. Joel Embiid says he is donating $500,000 to coronavirus relief and aiding team workers who are taking temporary salary reductions during the shutdown.
• Phoenix Suns: The Suns announced in a press release that all Talking Stick Resort Arena workers will receive compensation for the remaining Suns games canceled in March. 
• Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers are pledging $1.4 million to the nearly 1,000 part-time employees who work game nights at Moda Center.
• Sacramento Kings: The Kings are partnering with Legends Hospitality, ABM, Fanatics and SAMMCO to provide compensation to all employees who work game nights at Golden 1 Center through the end of March, per The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson.
• San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs have created a fund of $500,000 to help pay for non-contract and part-time employees, per The San Antonio Express-News’ Jeff McDonald.
• Toronto Raptors: The Raptors joined forces with four other Toronto professional sports teams to create a fund for all workers impacted by the sudden stop in sports schedules

• Utah Jazz: Rudy Gobert, the first NBA player to test positive for the coronavirus, will donate $500,000 to various causes. Of that money, $200,000 will go to game-day employees for the Jazz, $100,000 each will go to families impacted by the virus in Utah and Oklahoma City, and 100,000 euros will go to his native France.  
• Washington Wizards: Team owner Ted Leonsis reportedly told Capital One Arena workers that they will be paid through March 31 for any Wizards or Capitals games they were scheduled to work, per The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir.

It’s crazy how something that seems so bad can turn into something so good and so important. This highlights that it’s more than sports. It’s bigger than basketball, hockey, and baseball. It’s important to show how these organizations are providing for their extended families.