Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban is promising to pay the workers at American Airlines Center, during the NBA’s suspension of play.
The billionaire team owner did not reveal the particulars on how he intended to pay for the worker’s salaries during the shutdown, saying only that he “reached out to the folks at the arena and the folks at the Mavs to find out what it would cost to financially support people who are unable to come to work,” Fox 59 reported.
Cuban added that he is in talks with the arena to figure out how to fulfill his promise, and the plan may include asking employees to do volunteer work.
“It’s stunning, but we are where we are,” Cuban told ESPN. “We have to be smart in how we respond. This is people’s lives at stakes. This isn’t about basketball, this isn’t about the Mavericks. This isn’t about when do we start, do we start? Or how do we start? This is a pandemic, a global pandemic where people’s lives are at stake.”
Cuban added that he is more worried about his kids and his 82-year-old mother than he is about a Mavericks game though the Coronavirus has not affected children very much.
“I reached out … to find out what it would cost to financially support people who aren’t going to be able to come to work.”
–Mark Cuban on his plan for Mavericks employees during the NBA suspension pic.twitter.com/McOl1vHUqO
— ESPN (@espn) March 12, 2020
The NBA made its announcement to suspend the season shortly after a player on the Jazz tested positive for the coronavirus. The NBA released its statement on Wednesday evening.
The NBA has suspended the season in the wake of the Coronavirus Crisis. Its official statement: pic.twitter.com/x3X6pddmSq
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 12, 2020
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