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The Milwaukee Bucks are one of many teams with a legitimate chance of hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy at season's end. Just because his squad is at the center of near-unprecedented parity across the league, though, doesn't mean Jrue Holiday is too competitive to send a holiday gift to each of his fellow NBA peers.
Jrue and Lauren Holiday gave Black Wall Street The Board Game, a game featuring real businesses from Tulsa's historic Black Wall Street meant to promote financial literacy, to all 450 players in the NBA on Tuesday as an early Christmas gift.
“I didn’t know anything about finances growing up,” Jrue Holiday said, per Marc Spears of Andscape. “For me, it was like, ‘Whatever you got, 10% tithe and then 10% percent you could spend on whatever, and then 80% you save.’ But that was the extent of my allowance. It wasn’t about having a salary and doing whatever.
“Having this opportunity to educate yourself is really big, especially in the Black community. And even young guys, all guys, I feel like even though they have people who can explain stuff to them and do all that, it’s just something about self-education that I feel is really important.”
Black Wall Street, Tulsa's thriving neighborhood of predominantly Black residents and businesses, was destroyed by mobs of white people—many appointed as deputies and armed by city administrators—during the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. In 2010, a park named after noted historian and author John Hope Franklin was established in the Greenwood area to honor victims of the massacre.
“I’m happy to see, first of all, us recognizing the history of Black Wall Street,” said New Orleans Pelicans guard C.J. McCollum, president of the National Basketball Players' Association. “It’s very important. Black history is in there. It’s important that we share and know that. I hope the players seek to learn more about that. It’s important that NBA players, especially with [the league being] 80 to 85% African American and minority, understand our history.
“I’m looking forward to playing that game. I’m going to make sure I thank Jrue, as well as his wife, personally. That is a really, really cool gesture and something that is needed and will be appreciated.”
Through the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Impact Fund, the Bucks and U.S. Women's National Team stars also gave makers of the Black Wall Street The Board Game a grant to support their Black-owned businesses.
