Miami Heat plan to compensate hourly employees during NBA suspension
The Miami Heat are taking a page out of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's playbook.
The Heat and owner Micky Arison plan to compensate arena workers paid on a game-by-game basis while the NBA season is suspended because of the coronavirus threat. League commissioner Adam Silver announced Thursday night games will be postponed at least 30 days before re-assessing the situation. The decision to halt games was made Wednesday after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was among the confirmed coronavirus cases. A day later, teammate Donovan Mitchell also tested positive.
As of Friday, there were more than 1,700 coronavirus cases in the United State and 41 deaths.
The outbreak has caused several cancellations of sporting events, including the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournament. Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League have also postponed play.
Cuban told reporters Wednesday he would compensate hourly employees during the suspension. Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love also intends to pay the arena workers.
"I reached out to the folks at the arena and our folks at the Mavs to find out what it would cost to support, financially support, people who aren't going to be able to come to work," Cuban said. "They get paid by the hour, and this was their source of income. So, 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."
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