Pledge tracker: Here are pro players donating to event staff affected by coronavirus outbreak

Times staff
·2 min read
Hard Rock Stadium prepares for Super Bowl LIV, Miami Gardens, USA - 28 Jan 2020
Workers prepare for the Super Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Jan. 28. (Tannen Maury / European Pressphoto Agency)

Following is a list of professional players who have pledge donations to event staff at arenas and stadiums, and to others affected by the coronavirus.

• Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz: The first NBA player to be diagnosed with coronavirus will donate $500,000 to assist people affected by the virus and related closures. The Utah Jazz all-star center's donations include $200,000 to part-time employees of the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City whose jobs were affected by the NBA's decision to suspend its season; $100,000 to support coronavirus-related social services in Utah and Oklahoma City; and $110,000 to his home country of France.

• Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers: Love, the first player to donate money to event staff, will give $100,000 to staff at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: $100,000 to staff at Fiserv Forum.

• Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks: $100,000 to the Fiserv Forum staff.

• Blake Griffin, Detroit Pistons: $100,000 to staff of Little Caesars Arena.

• Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans: Paying the salaries of Smoothie King Center employees for the next 30 days.

• George Springer, Houston Astros: $100,000 to staff at Minute Maid Park.

• Trevor Bauer, Cincinnati Reds: Organized a GoFundMe page where fans could donate to benefit workers throughout the league, kicking in $10,000 on his own and setting a goal of $1 million.

• Jeremy Lin, former NBA player: Donating $150,000 to UNICEF to help fight the coronavirus. Lin also donated the same amount to the China Foundation.

• Golden State Warriors ownership, players and coaches: Donating $1 million to provide assistance to those who work at Chase Center.

• Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers goaltender: Donating $100,000 to workers at BB&T Center.

Note: More than half of NBA teams and a few NHL teams reportedly have said they are finalizing plans to reimburse workers for lost wages. The employees include ushers, concession vendors and ticket takers who work for the arenas and part-time employees like game-night performers. MLB teams have not been as responsive yet, but their regular season won’t begin for at least a month.