March 12 (UPI) -- Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love pledged $100,000 to aid arena workers affected by the NBA's response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The NBA announced Wednesday night that it was suspending the 2019-20 season until further notice because of the disease, causing workers from the league's 28 arenas around the country to be displaced for the foreseeable future.
In Love's statement posted Thursday on Instagram, the All-Star forward, who signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension with the Cavs in 2018, said he was "concerned about the level of anxiety that everyone is feeling."
"Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations. And the fear and anxiety resulting from the recent outbreak of COVID-19 can be extremely overwhelming," Love wrote. "Through the game of basketball, we've been able to address major issues and stand together as a progressive league that cares about the players, the fans, and the communities where we work.
"I'm concerned about the level of anxiety that everyone is feeling and that is why I'm committing $100,000 through the @KevinLoveFund in support of the @Cavs arena and support staff that had a sudden life shift due to the suspension of the NBA season. I hope that during this time of crisis, others will join me in supporting our communities."
Love's donation echoed the joint statement released Thursday by the Cavaliers and their home arena, Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
"Providing as safe and healthy of a work environment as possible for our organization and our visitors is our highest priority and the extensive precautionary and preventative measures being taken continue to be in place," the statement said.
"At the same time, we are also developing a compensation plan to continue paying our event staff and hourly workforce that is impacted with the changes to our regular event schedule."
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also offered similar assurances that his employees at the American Airlines Center would be compensated while the league is suspended.
"I reached out to the folks at the arena and our folks at the Mavs to find out what it would cost to financially support people who aren't going to be able to come to work," Cuban said in a press conference Wednesday. "You know, they get paid by the hour, and this is their source of income.
"We'll do some things there. We may ask them to go do some volunteer work in exchange, but we've already started the process of having a program in place. I don't have any details to give, but it's certainly something that's important to me."
