New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday is donating the remainder of his 2019-20 salary, which could be worth up to $5.3 million, to start the Jrue and Lauren Social Justice Impact Fund, according to ESPN's Andrew Lopez.
Holiday is following in the footsteps of San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, who donated over $1 million remaining of his salary toward Black Lives Matter Australia and parallel social justice organizations.
The 30-year-old Pelicans guard signed a five-year, $131.8 million deal in 2017 and will earn over $20 million this season, even after this act of kindness. Holiday explained why he's doing this:
“Honestly when it came down to it, it was me and my wife talking about what we could do to kind of further this movement and progression and being able to help out our community and just being able to help,” said Holiday.
“We were just kind of sitting in the house, in the bed, thinking about it, and my wife said, ‘I think you should do this and you should do the rest of your salary.' That's a great idea. Because we want to make an impact. God has blessed us with so much. We know a couple of things that are important are time and money, and right now, we have both. To be able to give away our money to help further this movement and Black-owned businesses that have taken a hit in COVID-19, to us, it felt like the perfect time and opportunity.”
NBA players have been looking to make social justice statements during their time in the Orlando bubble, but nothing speaks louder than actions. Starting a fund to help enact change is a big start and a great gesture by the Pelicans guard.
Back in late June, Lauren Holiday penned a letter to The Undefeated, detailing how she witnessed Jrue experience racism and racial prejudice at the hands of local police. The former U.S. National Women's Soccer Team midfielder also acknowledged it took her husband nearly getting arrested to fully grasp the terrifying chills many Black Americans get when pulled over by the police.
This hefty donation should go a long way toward addressing some of the big racial issues plaguing the country and help start a dialogue to educate those who stand idly while racism happens, even in the subtlest of ways.
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