All Bucks players join in helping workers
Giannis Antetokounmpo got the ball rolling with a pledge of $100,000 on Friday. Later in the day, his all-star teammate Khris Middleton added $100,000 of his own.
By Saturday morning the whole Milwaukee Bucks team joined the cause of making sure the 1,000-plus hourly workers at Fiserv Forum are taken care of during the NBA's hiatus due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Every player on the roster pledged to make a donation and those contributions will be matched by the organization to create a fund to pay workers during what will be at least a 30-day period without NBA games, a stretch that includes about 10 postponed home games.
“It's bigger than basketball!” Antetokounmpo wrote Friday on Twitter. “And during this tough time I want to help the people that make my life, my family's lives and my teammates lives easier. Me and my family pledge to donate $100,000 to the Fiserv Forum staff. We can get through this together!”
The Bucks are working with the unions representing the workers to find the best way to distribute the money. The expectation within the organization is there will be enough in the accumulated fund to cover the 30-day stoppage. If the league remains suspended after that point, the franchise will adjust accordingly.
Walter Smith, 69, a guest services representative who works on the arena's main concourse, was overwhelmed by the contribution from the team.
“It shows me the commitment that the Bucks have as an organization, both the players and management, to keeping
our family together,” said Smith, who lives in Brown Deer. “We all consider ourselves family. Being an arena worker, you feel like you're part of the Bucks family.”
After the league suspended its season on Wednesday, the organization began working on a plan to address the needs of Fiserv Forum's part-time workers. Antetokounmpo, Middleton and the rest of the players adding their money to the effort was a decision they made as individuals and as a team in a gesture of solidarity.
Bucks senior vice president Alex Lasry
met with the media on the plaza outside Fiserv Forum after the dual announcements of Antetokounmpo and the team to discuss the plans for constructing a safety net for arena workers.
Lasry indicated that, to his knowledge, no one in the organization, including players, had exhibited symptoms of coronavirus or tested positive.
“I think what we anticipate for this fund is to be able to help during these initial 30 days,” Lasry said. “What we're going to continue to do as an organization is not only work with the union reps and work with employees but try to figure out how can we continue to ensure that the part-time staff are taken care of and are able to get through this time.”