The NBA Board Of Governors Will Donate $300 Million To A New Economic Empowerment Foundation

The NBA has made it clear that its bubble restart in Orlando is not an effort to take attention away from the nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic inequality. Rather, the league’s stressed that this is occurring as a way to raise awareness for various charities designed to fight inequality in all forms, and in addition to various symbols that promote equality, has promised to put its financial might into this fight.

The latest example of this came on Wednesday afternoon. In a statement, the league announced the launch of the NBA Foundation, which looks to create “greater economic empowerment in the Black community.” The Foundation’s launch is done in partnership with the NBPA and includes a monster donation from its Board of Governors. According to the statement, the Board will donate $300 million — $30 million over each of the next 10 years — to the Foundation.

“We are dedicated to using the collective resources of the 30 teams, the players and the league to drive meaningful economic opportunities for Black Americans,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “We believe that through focused programs in our team markets and nationally, together with clear and specific performance measures, we can advance our shared goals of creating substantial economic mobility within the Black community.”

Individuals and organizations associated with the NBA pledging monstrous sums of money to support the Black community is something we’ve seen in recent weeks and months. Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand pledged $100 million to charities back in June, while Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans will use the $5 million salary he’ll receive for participating in the bubble to create a social justice fund.