NBA: Bucks Star, Pelicans Rookie Pledge To Help Arena Employees During NBA Suspension

Aware of the effects of the NBA suspension for at least 30 days, the staff and arena workers for all 30 NBA teams are left without their source of income until the league lifts the postponement. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love earlier made their move to help them.

The Mavs’ billionaire owner said that they will do something for the employees that will be left jobless due to the sudden suspension. “What about all the people who work here on an hourly basis? We’ll put a together program for them,” said the 61-year old entrepreneur.

“For the next four Mavs games, we have a program where—the next four would-have-been Mavs games—we’ll pay our employees, our hourly employees, as if they worked,” elaborated Cuban on ESPN’s Get Up.

Then, Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love followed by donating $100,000 to help the support staff of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse while they were temporarily left with no jobs. “I'm concerned about the level of anxiety that everyone is feeling and that is why I'm committing $100,000 through the (Kevin Love Fund) in support of the (Cavs) arena and support staff that had a sudden life shift due to the suspension of the NBA season,” the five-time All-Star said.

Realizing the impact of the stoppage on the employees outside basketball, reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and this season’s top overall pick Zion Williamson chipped in financial assistance out of their own pockets to help their respective team staff endure the what is believed to be a 30-day suspension.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ All-Star posted on his social media that he will be donating $100,000 to help Fiserv Forum’s staff as they face jobless days while the suspension is still in effect.

The New Orleans Pelicans rookie also knew the effects of the suspension to their support team and arena workers early in his career. Aware that most of the people are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, the former Duke star pledged to cover the salaries of all employees of Smoothie King Center during the entire 30-day hiatus.

Initially said that the league was suspended indefinitely, Sports Illustrated reported that the league decided to set it to a 30-day minimum to endure everybody’s safety.