Sixers Center Joel Embiid Announces He Will Pledge $500,000 To COVID-19 Medical Relief
PHILADELPHIA (CBS)- Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid joined the list of athletes donating money to help combat the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday. According to multiple reports, the Sixers center has pledged $500,000 to medical relief, going to help with survival and protection efforts in the Philadelphia community.
In addition, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Embiid said that he would commit to helping Sixers team employees who found out yesterday that the organization will be implementing salary reductions.
Philadelphia 76ers star @JoelEmbiid has decided to pledge $500K to COVID-19 medical relief—to help survival and protection efforts in the community. AND he's committed to helping Sixers employees who will suffer financial hardship in light of the franchise's salary reductions.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) March 24, 2020
For Joel Embiid, the $500,000 donation will go toward health and medical relief. The amount toward 76ers employees is to be determined based upon who is affected. https://t.co/HvjVlWcKhU
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 24, 2020
On Monday night, the Sixers owners announced that they would be asking full-time employees to take up to a 20% pay cut. However, owner Josh Harris has since reversed course, issuing a statement Tuesday saying that employees will receive their full salary. According to the statement the reversal came after the ownership group had conversations with the staff and players about the decision.
The NBA, currently on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, has said players will receive their April 1st paychecks, but the league has not yet made a decision on whether or not the April 15th checks will be sent out.