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Coronavirus: NBA players pledge thousands of dollars to cover salaries of employees out of work due to season suspension

Chelsea Ritschel
·3-min read

NBA players are pledging to pay the salaries of employees working at sports stadiums after the basketball league announced it would be suspending the season for at least 30 days amid the coronavirus outbreak.

On Friday, New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson became the latest NBA star to announce he would be donating thousands of dollars to cover the hourly wages of employees.

“The people of New Orleans have been incredibly welcoming and supportive since I was drafted by the Pels last June, and some of the most special people I have met are those who work at smoothie King Centre,” the 19-year-old wrote on Instagram. “These are the folks who make our games possible, creating the perfect environment for our fans and everyone involved in the organisation.

“Unfortunately, many of them are still recovering from long term challenges created by Katrina, and now face the economic impact of the postponement of games because of the virus.”

Explaining that his mother always taught him to be respectful and grateful for what he has, the basketball star, who is set to make an estimated $44.2m with his four-year contract, said he would be covering “the salaries for all of those Smoothie King Center workers for the next 30 days”.

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The people of New Orleans have been incredibly welcoming and supportive since I was Drafted by the Pels last June, and some of the most special people I have met are those who work at smoothie King Center. These are the folks who make our games possible, creating the perfect environment for our fans and everyone involved in the organization. Unfortunately, many of them are still recovering from long term challenges created by Katrina, and now face the economic impact of the postponement of games because of the virus. My mother has always set an example for me about being respectful for others and being grateful for what we have, and so today I am pledging to cover the salaries for all of those Smoothie King Center workers for the next 30 days. 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. This is an incredibly resilient city full of some of the most resilient people, but sometimes providing a little extra assistance can make things a little easier for the community.

A post shared by Zion Williamson (@zionwilliamson) on Mar 13, 2020 at 2:24pm PDT

“In light of the postponement of the NBA season, it is of the utmost importance to Dallas Mavericks management and ownership that we do what we can to minimise the adverse financial impact that will be felt by staff who would otherwise be working at our games at American Airlines Center,” the team said in a statement.

The donations from NBA teams and players come after the basketball league announced Wednesday that it would be suspending the season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for coronavirus.

As the pandemic continues to spread around the globe, other sports leagues also made the decision to suspend seasons, including Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Soccer (MLS).

In the United States, there are currently 2,340 cases of coronavirus as of Saturday.