NBA Stars Transition from Players to Helpers
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused professional athletes to be sidelined without any clear timetable. For many of these players and coaches, it is the first time that their careers have been put on hold by something completely out of their control. But instead of waiting for their role of athletes to be reinstated after the pandemic has subsided, some players have used their social status of role model and community leader to help during this time. While there are examples of athletes from all major sports stepping up and embracing a new set of roles (SportsDay Staff, 2020), I will be focusing on four NBA stars who are now helping to win the battle off the court. The role of basketball player has taken a backseat to their role of providing new laptops to students (DuBose, 2020) or paying the salaries for arena staff who they shared a workplace with (Schwartz, 2020).
On March 23, the Philadelphia 76ers announced that they would be cutting arena staff salaries by 20% during the NBA shutdown due to the coronavirus. The team is owned by billionaire Josh Harris’ company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. After hearing of this news, Sixers superstar Joel Embiid stepped in just one day later and said he would be donating $500,000 to coronavirus relief efforts and to support team workers who had their salary cut (Carlin, 2020). Joel Embiid has always been the center of attention for his fantastic play on the court and his trash talk both during and after the game. He is loved by the Philadelphia community for his role of athlete, but perhaps even more so for his role in aiding people who are financially less fortunate than himself.
Russel Westbrook has played all but one of his 12 seasons in Oklahoma City, but that did not stop him from giving back to his new home of Houston. “Through his Why Not? Foundation, Rockets star Russell Westbrook is purchasing 650 laptop computers to help better facilitate online learning for children in Houston who are no longer able to physically attend school due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic” (DuBose). In this report from RocketsWire of USA Today, Westbrook mentioned he is excited to be able to immediately help the youth in the community. “It’s something that I’m very, very passionate about through my foundation, and I’m just trying to find a way — especially now — to be able to bridge the gap and give kids access to another way of learning, through computers. This allows them to be able to continue their education, especially from home. I’m happy to be a part of it.” What makes this act of kindness different from others is the research that Westbrook’s foundation did before choosing how they would help. Russel understood that almost 10% of households in Houston’s ten largest school districts do not have access to a computer, so he saw this as an opportunity to make a huge difference for students trying to adapt to online learning. I am not surprised that he has embraced the role of community helper with such enthusiasm, as his basketball mindset is to always give your full effort.
The NBA’s newest superstar Zion Williamson is setting a precedent of maturity for all rookies coming into the league after him. He was drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019 and shared his plan to contribute to the New Orleans community on an Instagram post, “ 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 long term challenges created by Katrina, and now face the economic impact of the postponement of games because of the virus. My mother has always set an example for me about being respectful for others and being grateful for what we have, and so today I am pledging to cover the salaries for all of those Smoothie King Center workers for the next 30 days.” (Williamson, 2020) Sports have been an outlet for celebration and a bond between the community in New Orleans, and Zion will do everything in his power to keep it that way. As functionalist theory suggests that sports is structured to shape our beliefs and values, this is an example of an athlete creating positivity in less than positive times. Williamson understands that his status of NBA player allows him to have a greater impact through his new role of financial supporter.
The last example I will use to show how NBA players are shifting from player to helper is Charlotte Hornets center Bismack Biyombo. He is donating $1 million worth of medical supplies to his home country of the Republic of Congo (Young, 2020). He commented on the importance of properly equipping hospitals in an interview with USA Today, “Let’s try to get as many clinics and hospitals equipped with something that they can treat the patients and protect doctors and nurses. That’s the motivation behind it. There are people on the ground who have been tremendously supportive in this process and putting our efforts together to save as many lives as possible.” Biyombo also mentioned that he understands how social distancing is required to slow the spread of the virus, but in places like the Congo most locals do not have that option.
All these examples show the same theme — professional athletes are in a position to use their wealth and social status to greatly help society, and when they are willing and motivated to do so, their impact is enormous. As I said previously, you can find dozens of examples of athletes adjusting their roles to the circumstance across all major sports. They understand that even though they would love to get back on the court or field, the safety of the community and their fans is priority number one. Without the support of the fans their jobs would not exist.
References
Carlin, K. (2020, March 24). Joel Embiid donates $500K to coronavirus relief, help salary workers. USA Today. https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/2020/03/24/joel-embiid-donates-500k-to-coronavirus-relief-help-salary-workers/.
DuBose, B. (2020, April 14). Rockets’ Russell Westbrook buys 650 laptops for Houston students as schools shift to online classes. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/rockets/2020/04/13/russell-westbrook-buys-650-laptops-houston-students-online-classes/111545474/.
SportsDay Staff. (2020, April 21). A list of athletes and sports organizations providing donations, relief during the coronavirus pandemic. Dallas News. https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2020/03/16/a-list-of-athletes-and-sports-organizations-providing-donations-relief-during-coronavirus-pandemic/.
Williamson, Z. (2020, March 13). Zion Williamson’s Instagram post: “The people of New … https://www.instagram.com/p/B9sFV-nFTRG/.
Young, R. (2020, April 18). Bismack Biyombo donating $1 million in supplies to help coronavirus outbreak in the Congo. Yahoo! Sports. https://sports.yahoo.com/charlotte-hornets-bismack-biyombo-donating-1-million-medical-supplies-coronavirus-covid19-pandemic-democratic-republic-congo-043754046.html.
