Hoops Habit
Fansided

Zion Williamson pledges to pay Smoothie King Center employees salaries for 30 days

By Duncan Smith

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - MARCH 06: Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans reacts against the Miami Heat during a game at the Smoothie King Center on March 06, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - MARCH 06: Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans reacts against the Miami Heat during a game at the Smoothie King Center on March 06, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

On Friday afternoon, New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson pledged to pay the salaries of Smoothie King Center employees for the next 30 days.

It’s a rising tide across the NBA. With the league on indefinite hiatus and no games on the horizon in the foreseeable future, some teams and players are giving back by taking care of hourly and low-wage team and arena employees. One such player is New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson.

Already one of the most impressive rookies in NBA history, Williamson took the remarkable step of pledging to pay the salaries of Smoothie King Center employees for the next 30 days. He made this announcement on Instagram, and you can read it in the embedded tweet below.

Williamson’s pledge is incredible for more than a few reasons. He’s following suit in the footsteps of Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and Giannis Antetokounmpo, all players who have pledged to aid their arenas’ employees financially, but unlike Love, Griffin and Antetokounmpo he hasn’t yet made generational wealth, and he is several years away from doing so.

His rookie contract is far from pocket change at four years and $44 million, but he’s only a few months into that contract. Blake Griffin made almost that much this season alone and will do the same again next season (and the season after). Zion Williamson won’t have his mega pay-day until 2023 at the earliest.

4 worst things of the season for the Portland Trail Blazers. light. Related Story

He’s doing this on the same day that ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski revealed the NBPA informed its members that owners have a provision at their disposal in the CBA that could allow them to withhold a significant portion of player salary over the course of the rest of the season if games are missed or the season is canceled.

Zion Williamson will likely never hurt for money for the rest of his life, but he’s taken a step that even many NBA owners have yet to do, including the owner of the Pelicans, Gayle Benson (2020 estimated net worth of $3.1 billion, with a “b”).

Will the pledge of a 19-year-old shame the NBA’s billionaire owners into doing right by their employees? No, probably not, but that wasn’t the point. Zion Williamson is taking care of his people, and that’s what matters.

Next. Los Angeles Lakers: 10 best shooting guards in team history. dark