The players union is putting up $300 million to help social justice efforts
The NBA is committed to its promise of doing more to fight for social justice. Last week, the league unveiled “Black Lives Matter” printed on some of the courts at the bubble in Orlando, just as it promised, after the protests against racism that extended across the country since late May when George Floyd was murdered. But the league’s efforts didn’t stop there, and now the NBA is partnering up with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) to create a foundation that has $300 million as the starting capital to fight for social justice issues.
According to a report from Marc Stein of the New York Times, Chris Paul, a point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the president of the NBPA, talked about this new effort and partnership with the player’s union, where players will have a say on where the money should go to. “CP3 spoke with excitement of the NBA forming a joint foundation with the players’ union to support economic empowerment in the Black community,” wrote Stein on a tweet. “Adam Silver last night said talks are at an ‘intense’ stage and Chris Paul said the figure being discussed is a $300 million pledge from the league in which players, ‘get an opportunity to determine where it goes.’ A formal ownership vote to approve the foundation is expected soon.”
The specific activities in which this newly-created foundation will participate have not been shared yet; however, allowing the players to vote on where the funds should be going to certainly created a space for players to engage in the foundation activities and make sure the money is going towards creating more social justice. The coming weeks will most likely bring another vote, and more details will be shared soon.
