Trail Blazers Pledge $1.4M to Part-Time Employees During NBA Hiatus

Portland Trail Blazers chair Jody Allen and the team are the latest in the NBA doing what they can to help part-time and game-night employees while the league's season is suspended during the coronavirus pandemic.

"To assist game night employees impacted by the NBA's postponement, Jody Allen and the Portland Trail Blazers are committing more than $1.4M toward COVID-19 relief efforts," the Trail Blazers announced Thursday. "This includes paying part-time Rose Quarter employees for nine postponed Trail Blazers games."

Many of the teams in both the NBA and NHL have committed to helping part-time employees who depend on working home games for income during the respective hiatus for each league.

A large number of the players have also joined the cause, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Rudy Gobert and Zion Williamson.

Gobert's positive test that led to the postponement of the March 11 game between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder largely kicked off many of the postponements and cancellations across the sports world. 

As of Thursday, the World Health Organization confirmed there have been more than 207,000 cases of the coronavirus across the globe.