Pistons And Nets Donate 350,000 KN95 Masks To Fight Covid-19

In yet another enormous donation to their communities, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai donated 350,000 KN95 masks to help citizens of Detroit protect themselves from the coronavirus.

The donation also included 100,000 sets of goggles that will be distributed to COVID-19 testing centers and homeless shelters, and to frontline workers in the city’s transportation and police departments.

Both owners have been very active in supporting COVID-19 relief efforts, procuring PPE and other critical supplies.

The Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation has made donations of PPE and ventilators to hospitals in New York, New Jersey and California. Mr. Gores recently purchased and delivered 100,000 surgical-grade masks for the City of Detroit to support first responders and city workers, among several other initiatives. 

“We are grateful for Joe and Clara’s commitment to Detroit and proud to be their partner in bringing additional medical supplies to our community,” said Gores said. “The NBA family continues stepping up in the fight against COVID-19.” 

The Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation sourced and imported the PPE supplies from China and worked with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to allocate the supplies, with the Pistons organization arranging to provide logistics and support to ensure delivery.

New York has had more than 300,000 confirmed Coronavirus cases, while Michigan has had more than 40,000.

The donation news comes as the NBA remains on hold, with the league telling teams earlier this week that players cannot return to practice facilities until May 8 at the earliest.

Commissioner Adam Silver has not wavered from his statements that he wants a conclusion to the 2019-20 season, which was halted on March 11. Numerous contingency discussions continue to take place.

Disney World is reportedly being discussed as a possible location for the NBA to finish its season, and its Wide World of Sports Complex would “make sense for a lot of reasons,” according to Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel. The complex already has a court, the HP Field House, where high-level basketball games are played.

USA Today’s Andrew Joseph writes if the NBA “were to go forward with such a ‘biodome’ plan, Disney World would make a lot more sense than Las Vegas.” Disney World is a 40-square-mile private facility with “empty hotels and a ton of sports infrastructure.”

According to a report from CNBC, several league execs and agents are pushing for the NBA to cancel the season — or at least, the regular season.

LeBron James, in particular, wasn’t pleased to read that report. He tweeted on Thursday, pushing back at those execs and saying that the Lakers are ready to play.

California has had nearly 50,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

Several NBA owners have made charitable donations in an effort to provide relief to their communities.

“Many cities in America have been hit hard by the pandemic. Clara and I wish to help the people of Detroit get through these difficult times, and we are grateful that Tom and his organization readily stepped up to help us distribute the supplies,” said Tsai, who purchased the Nets from Mickael Prokhorov. “We have a history of friendship with Detroit and I want to thank Mayor Duggan for directing the PPE to where they are needed most.”

In June 2017, Alibaba
BABA
Group, the global Internet technology company in which Mr. Tsai is executive vice chairman, held its inaugural “Gateway ‘17” conference in Detroit to facilitate exports by American small businesses and farmers to China on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms.

“We hope to partner with Mayor Duggan again to assist American businesses as they get back on the path to economic recovery,” Tsai said.