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Lakers star Anthony Davis announced two new partnerships to help Los Angeles fight the COVID-19, or coronavirus, pandemic on Friday.
In the first, Davis will be partnering with Lineage Logisitics to match donations up to $250,000 to buy “healthy, free meals” from Los Angeles-based restaurants to give to hospital workers who are helping fight coronavirus on the frontlines.
Those who want to join Davis in donating to the cause can do so at the “Help Feed the Frontline Fighting COVID 19 - LA” GoFundMe page.
In another partnership, Davis and Lineage are joining with AEG to help Staples Center workers who are not getting to work games right now fill up to 260 jobs that Lineage is hiring for in the L.A. area.
“We all need to find ways to support our community during these challenging times. Whether it’s the people we work with, the small businesses trying to stay afloat, or the healthcare workers putting themselves in harm’s way to treat the sick, we’ve got to give our support however we can. I appreciate Lineage Logistics stepping up and partnering with me to help launch these programs and look out for our STAPLES Center team,” Davis said in statement.
Lakers assistant general manager Jesse Buss — who as part of the Buss family had already committed to partnering with the Lakers’ Staples Center co-tenants, the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Kings, to provide up to $5 million in relief for Staples Center workers — has also joined in the coronavirus fight to help hospital workers, and other children and families impacted by this crisis:
Lakers co-owner Jesse Buss is donating 13,000 N95 masks to @saintjohnsheals
— Bill Oram (@billoram) March 27, 2020
in Santa Monica, as well as 3,500 meals via @HashtagLunchbag for kids and families without food due to Covid-19 outbreak.
A follow-up from Jesse Buss’ Instagram account on his donations to St. John’s and @HashtagLunchbag pic.twitter.com/je7oNvTM0O
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) March 27, 2020
Lakers players LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma had both previously committed to helping their hometowns fight the coronavirus in various ways.
Just like it is for all of us staring down the face of this pandemic, this battle is a personal one for the Lakers, who have had two players test positive for the coronavirus so far. Every fan wants to feel like the team they root for isn’t just full of good players, but good people as well. Given every step we know the Lakers have taken in the wake of coronavirus so far, it’s hard not to feel that way about this team.
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