Nets owners, Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, pledge $50M to a social justice fund

BROOKLYN NETS

Owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai at a Nets game.

Even before the NBA players voted Wednesday to suspend play in the middle of the league's playoffs, Brooklyn Nets owner pledged $50 million to a "Social Justice Fund" over the next 10 years.

Joe and Clara Wu Tsai announced Monday (Aug. 25) a “five-point plan” committed to “inclusiveness, justice, and equal opportunity.”  As part of that plan the couple, described in the press release as owners of the NBA's Nets, WNBA's Liberty and Barclays Center, pledged $50 million to kickstart the fund.

Among the commitments the Tsai’s discussed was one to “Supporting Athlete Voices” including “amplifying their voices through team and venue platforms.” 

“Joe and I are proud to present our statement of core principles and action plan as a continuation of our efforts to address racial injustice and economic inequality in our society,” said Clara Wu Tsai. 

“We plan to focus first on our organizations and our community in Brooklyn. We believe Barclays Center, the Nets, and the Liberty can be symbols of how we move forward together as a country. It is our hope to lead by example through supporting our athletes, employees, and our community in anti-racist and anti-discrimination work and providing the resources needed to accelerate change.”

“Alongside the leadership of our companies, we have spoken up against all forms of racism and made a commitment to work in partnership with our community to raise awareness and push back on racial prejudice,” said Joe Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba, China's equivalent to Google. Although born in Taiwan, the Yale-educated businessman has become a naturalized Canadian. According to Forbes, he is worth $13.5 billion.

“Brooklyn has long been a place where people of many different origins can engage in dialogue and find common ground, and we have seen the best example of that at the plaza in front of Barclays Center. Today, we present the framework for how we plan to accomplish the goals of justice and equality.”

The action plan is founded on the following core principles:

• Equal opportunity and respect for all people
• Diversity is a strength
• Our teams and arena serve a central purpose in uniting people
• Our entire organization has a responsibility in joining our players to influence and empower people around the issue of social justice

The $50 million pledge is in addition to the Nets $10 million contribution to the NBA Player Association's $300 million fund with similar goals.

Wu Tsai, a native of Kansas who was educated at Harvard and Stanford, has also been heavily involved in another social justice initiative, the REFORM Alliance, a consortium of sports and entertainment figures (including Jay-Z, a former Nets investor) who’ve contributed their names and financial support to reforming the nation’s prison and parole systems. She is a “founding partner” of the alliance and the Joe and Clara Wu Tsai Foundation has reportedly donated a seven-figure contribution to the alliance.

In an interview with CNBC’s Jabari Young, Wu Tsai said the couple were motivated in part by Garrett Temple. She noted as well how she was affected by the players’ response to the George Floyd killings.

“I want to keep that momentum going because I know that was a concern for some of the players — that going back to play was going to take some of the attention off of this,” Wu Tsai told CNBC, referring to objections, led by Kyrie Irving, to playing in the NBA’s “bubble,” believing it would take attention off the social injustice movement.

“We need to find ways to continue to keep this topic at the top of mind without it having to be the senseless death of somebody,” she told Young.

AAPI Athletes: Jeremy Lin suffers what may be season-ending injury

IT LOOKS like the season is over for Jeremy Lin after crumbling to the basketball court and leaving the Brooklyn Nets' season-opening loss with a knee injury.

The team announced Thursday (Oct. 19) that Lin has been diagnosed with a ruptured patellar tendon of the right knee and is expected to miss the rest of 2017-18.

"Jeremy worked tremendously hard during the offseason and in training camp and was excited for the prospects of the team this season," Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. "We feel awful that the injury will cost him the season, however our entire organization will be there to support Jeremy in every way possible throughout his recovery. Jeremy remains an important part of this team and will continue to contribute in a leadership role."

Lin landed awkwardly on a drive to the basket in the fourth quarter of the Nets' 140-131 loss to the Pacers on Wednesday night, and he immediately grabbed his knee, turned to the bench and said, "I'm done, I'm done," before wincing in pain.

This is the second straight year where Lin's season was cut shsort by an injury. Last year, his first with the Nets, he only played 36 games.

Lin was brought to the Nets two years ago to be the starting point guard and was a leader in the clubhouse. 

“The thing where he really sets the standard is his competitiveness," said coach Kenny Atkinson. "I think we’ll miss him from a competitive standpoint; I think we’ll miss him from a defensive standpoint and just his leadership example and understanding what the coaching staff wants. You’ve got to call it what it is. It’s a big blow.”

“We feel awful the injury will cost him the season, however, our entire organization will be there to support Jeremy in every way possible throughout his recovery,” Marks said in a statement announcing the diagnosis on Thursday.

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AAPI Athletes: So ... about Jeremy Lin's hair - again

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Jeremy Lin's new hairstyle: cultural appropriation of a demonstration of respect?

UPDATED: Oct. 8, 8:40 a.m., to include Kenyon Martin's apology.

JEREMY LIN is not afraid to express his feelings and that leaves him vulnerable to criticism. He's also not afraid to sport his hair style, from spiked mohawk to Chinese pigtail to, right now,  wearing his hair in dreads.

“Do I need to remind this ... boy that his last name (is) Lin? Like, come on, let’s stop this. These people. There is no way possible he would’ve made it on one of our teams with that (expletive) going on on his head,” said former Nets player Kenyon Martin in a now-deleted video that was posted on Instagram. “Come on. Somebody really needs to tell him, like (alright), we get it. We get it, you want to be black. We get it, but the last name is Lin.”

After he started getting a backlash, Martin doubled down on his criticism.

“That man (is) grown. That man can rock whatever hairstyle he want to rock. That don’t mean I have to like it or agree with it,” he said. “Second of all, I’m grown. I can say whatever I want to say it about. It ain’t about race. It ain’t about none of that. Grow up, people, it was a joke, but I don’t like it. I don’t agree with it, so it is what it is.”

Lin, one of only two Asian/American players in the National Basketball Association, later responded on the post. 

RELATED: What's up with Jeremy Lin's hair?

“Hey man, it’s all good. You definitely don’t have to like my hair and (are) definitely entitled to your opinion,” he wrote. “Actually I (am) legit grateful (for) you sharing it (to be honest). At the end of the day, I appreciate that I have dreads and you have Chinese tattoos (because) I think its a sign of respect. And I think as minorities, the more that we appreciate each other's cultures, the more we influence mainstream society. Thanks for everything you did for the Nets and hoops ... had your poster up on my wall growing up.”

Speaking to TMZ Sports on Oct. 5, Martin issued an apology for his remarks. He said the "wording" of his comments about Lin "probably was bad."

"It wasn't my intention to be anything racist or anything like that," he said.

Preceding Martin's apology and after Lin and Martin's initial exchange, Lin wrote a thoughtful, 1500 essay on The Player's Tribune. It was more than just about his hair. It was about cultural appropriation, racism and being true to himself. He wrote:

"I’ll be honest: At first I didn’t see the connection between my own hair and cultural appropriation. Growing up, I’d only ever picked from one or two hairstyles that were popular among my friends and family at the time. But as an Asian-American, I do know something about cultural appropriation. I know what it feels like when people get my culture wrong. I know how much it bothers me when Hollywood relegates Asian people to token sidekicks, or worse, when it takes Asian stories and tells them without Asian people. I know how it feels when people don’t take the time to understand the people and history behind my culture. I’ve felt how hurtful it is when people reduce us to stereotypes of Bruce Lee or 'shrimp fried rice.' It’s easy to brush some of these things off as 'jokes,' but eventually they add up. And the full effect of them can make you feel like you’re worth less than others, and that your voice matters less than others.

He talked with black teammates and friends about his plan to get dreadlocks. One of them, Nets teammate Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who grew his hair long so both of them together could get their hair done in dreadlocks.

"The conversations I had weren’t always very comfortable, and at times I know I didn’t say the right things.," Lin continued. "But I’m glad I had them — because I know as an Asian-American how rare it is for people to ask me about my heritage beyond a surface level.

"It’s easy to take things that we enjoy from other cultures — that’s one of the coolest things about a melting-pot society like ours. But I think we have to be careful that taking doesn’t become all we do. With all the division, political turmoil and senseless violence in our society right now, we need to talk to each other more than ever.

"To listen to the real concerns of someone from a different background — and not just their everyday, superficial experiences — that’s pretty uncomfortable," he said. "Taking the time and energy to ask about the things we don’t know may be messy — but we don’t really have a choice. We can’t let our divisions get worse."

Lin criticized those who responded to Martin with cruel or racially insensitive comments, to cool it. “I don't think that's the right way to go about it ... I heard people were saying the 'n' word on his page. That's not what I stand for and that's not helping us move in the (unified) direction we want to move in.”

He closed his essay acknowledging that his opinions may very well be off base, but he's willing to listen to any comments anybody might have.

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