Since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, players from the Boston Celtics and various other organizations have shown to be strong leaders during these trying times, with some even covering the salaries of the arena workers who can’t work due to cancelled events. However, it should be the owners who should be footing the bill.
Though it’s only been a little under a week since we’ve seen the Boston Celtics or any other NBA team log minutes on the hardwood, it sure feels like an eternity. As I’m sure we’re all aware, Adam Silver rightly suspended the 2019-20 season for a minimum of 30 days (effective March 11th) due to the Coronavirus outbreak finally making it’s way to the league.
Because of this, team’s have been told to halt all gatherings, with some such as the Celtics, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors being forced to admit themselves into a self-quarantine.
During these trying times we’ve seen many of the league’s players step up in big ways for their teammates, communities and their fanbase. Jaylen Brown started the wave for the Boston Celtics by going to social media and simply trying to bring to light how serious of an issue this is; it doesn’t sound like a lot but, to some, it was seen as a much needed wake-up call.
Stephen Curry, along with his wife Ayesha, have donated one million meals to Oakland students who cannot attend school due to the Coronavirus closures.
Some players such as — but not limited to — Kevin Love, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson and Blake Griffin have even gone as far as to donating thousands of dollars from their own earnings to employees of their respective arenas that are missing out on pay due to the season’s suspension.
It cannot be stated enough: the acts of kindness that these NBA players are sharing is no less than heartwarming, inspirational and flat out amazing. However, while there has been all this news about what the players have been doing, a question still remains — what are their billionaire bosses doing?
Now, granted, owners like Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks and Joe Lacob of the Golden State Warriors have done a fantastic job of aiding those in need during this crisis — both have donated, or are looking into donating ample money to help support their arena workers — but what about the rest of them?
I get it, perhaps some of the other owner’s good deeds have not been publicized and have been made privately behind closed doors. But, when looking up the likes of, say, H. Irving Grousbeck, Wycliffe Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, the co-owners of one of the most storied franchises in the NBA, on search engines absolutely nothing pertaining to financial aid being sent to arena employees comes up.
And, again, I understand it’s their money and they can do whatever they want with it. However, when you see NBA players who are making (I know it’s still a large salary) tens of millions of dollars donating money to aid the temporarily unemployed, you’d think people making hundreds of millions, to even billions of dollars such as the league’s owners would be just as willing, if not more so to come to the rescue financially for their own employees.
I want to make this abundantly clear: the owners of the Boston Celtics, as well as the many others across the NBA very well could be making the same contributions as Cuban and Lacob are, but it’s just not being reported on/ released to the public. If so, this is great, fantastic even.
However, if they are not, they need to step up.
NBA players that have given their time, efforts and finances to those in need during this global crisis has been unbelievably moving. However, at least in regard to money being donated, it is the owners who should be footing the majority of the bill.
(***This piece was written on March 15th, 7:00 PM (EST)***)