The Cleveland Cavaliers were one of the first teams in the NBA to come out and say that they had every intention of properly compensating the hundreds of game-day workers at their home arena, whose livelihoods have been significantly affected by the current league suspension. According to Cavs CEO Len Komoroski, they feel that it is their duty to ensure that their employees — regardless if they were on the team’s payroll or hired via third-party vendors — still get paid accordingly.
“We have, we think, a greater level of responsibility given the spotlight that we have with the Cavaliers and the (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse) and all the activities we have here,” the Cavs CEO told Nancy Armour, Rachel Axon, Steve Berkowitz, and Tom Schad of USA TODAY Sports.
“So we look at it as embracing that responsibility, that accountability, to really hopefully set an example for the rest of the community in a positive way.”
On top of their usual game-day salary, the workers also received $100 gift cards courtesy of Kevin Love’s generous donation amounting to $100,000. The Cavs star was not the only player to dig into his own pockets to help out, as Andre Drummond, Larry Nance Jr., Tristan Thompson, and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff also contributed in their own ways in order to provide financial assistance to the Cavs workers.
What Cleveland has done as an organization here is a prime example of how a multi-million-dollar business can still act with the utmost of empathy and social responsibility in the midst of an unprecedented turn of events. Kudos to the Cavs.