New Orleans Pelicans basketball player Zion Williamson has offered to pay salaries of Smoothie King Center employees for the next 30 days following the NBA suspension due to COVID-19.
In an Instagram post, Williamson says, “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 Katrina, and now face the economic impact of the postponement of games because of the virus.”
He goes on to say, “I am pledging to cover the salaries for all of the 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 relive some of the stress and hardship caused by the national health crisis.”
The New Orleans Pelicans also released a statement, The Pelicans say thank you and applaud Zion and his family for his generous giving today to the employees of ASM New Orleans and The Smoothie King Center during this very unfortunate and troubling time. The statement went on to say that they had a meeting to see how they could help but the situation is “a bit more complicated” because the Pelicans are tenants of the building.
While all of these stories of basketball players donating their salaries to the workers are sweet, they are also equally disturbing. It isn’t the players’ job to do this. Do you think that it is right for the basketball players to donate their money to the workers instead of the organization paying their employees?
