Cavaliers’ forward Kevin Love made a generous donation of $100,000 to financially support the employees of the Rocket Mortage Fieldhouse on Thursday, following the NBA’s decision to postpone games for at least the next 30 days due to the coronavirus.
“My hope is that others will step up!!” Love told ESPN via text message.
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Love’s gesture was built off the Cavalier’s statement on Thursday to establish “a compensation plan to continue paying our event staff and hourly workforce that is impacted with the changes to our regular event schedule.”
According to a team spokesperson, there are “well over a thousand” employees combined working at the Cavaliers arena and other venues near by,
Love posted a picture on his Instagram with construction workers that were recently there for renovation improvements to the arena. The caption read, “Through the game of basketball, we’ve been able to address major issues and stand together as a progressive league that cares about the players, the fans, and the communities where we work. 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. I hope that during this time of crisis, others will join me in supporting our communities.”
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban echoed a similar plan to support the employees at the American Airlines Arena, the home of the Mavericks and Dallas Stars.
“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 — you know, they get paid by the hour, and this is their source of income,” Cuban said during a press conference Wednesday. “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.”
Hawks owner Tony Ressler followed suit and pledged to create an income plan for all employees at the State Farm Arena, the home of the Hawks. “We are indeed and feel strongly it’s both the right thing to do and good business,” Ressler told The Athletic.
