Warriors owners, players, and coaches donate $1 million to Chase Center workers

Following the lead of other NBA franchises, the Golden State Warriors are donating $1 million to Chase Center employees who are missing work due to the suspended NBA season. The league suspended all games through at least April 10 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Warriors announced in a press release on Friday night that owners, players, and coaches would be teaming up for the donation through a disaster relief fund that the Warriors Community Foundation opened up. The press release included quotes from Steph Curry and Joe Lacob.

The statement reads as follows:

SAN FRANCISCO — In an effort to assist those impacted by the NBA’s unforeseen suspension in play, the Warriors ownership, players and coaches have pledged to donate $1 million to a disaster relief fund established by the Warriors Community Foundation. The fund will provide assistance to employees who work games at Chase Center who are adversely impacted by the loss of games. The Warriors employ more than 1,000 part-time employees who work in various functions at each game, including food service, security, guest services, custodial and more.

The NBA announced on March 11 that the 2019-20 season would be suspended until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic. At the time of the suspension, the Warriors had seven (7) games remaining at Chase Center this season.

“The last few days have been extremely challenging for all Bay Area citizens as we deal with the hourly changes in this unprecedented situation,” said Warriors Co-Executive Chairman and CEO Joe Lacob. “Our players, coaches, ownership and management have been focused on creating a way to assist our part-time employees. We are addressing the potential hardships these hard-working individuals may encounter during this hiatus in the NBA season. While everyone and every business is impacted, those who are fortunate enough to be in a position to help, need to help.”

“The men and women who work our games at Chase Center are critical in providing an incredible game-night experience for our fans, including of course, the popcorn vendors,” said Warriors guard Stephen Curry. “As players, we wanted to do something, along with our ownership and coaches, to help ease the pain during this time.”

It is not known how that donation is allocated between ownership, players, and coaches. Hopefully the billionaire owners are footing the bulk of the bill, but I would caution against critiquing them for not footing all of it. It seems quite possible that players and coaches wanted to be a part of this.

It also isn’t known if that will fully cover the lost expenses for the employees. Hopefully it does, and if not, hopefully the donation is increased as necessary.

Those disclaimers aside, this is a good move by the Warriors, and it’s the right move.

Many other franchises have been stepping up to the plate to take care of their employees, starting with Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks. As of the Friday night, more than a dozen teams had followed the Mavs’ lead and committed to covering their game-day employees.

Players have also stepped up big time, starting with Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, who pledged $100,000 to employees losing wages. As of Friday night, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin had pledged the same figure, while New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson had promised to cover arena employees for the next 30 days.

Good on all the teams and players who are stepping up and helping to cover some of the many people who are impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.