Mark Cuban plans financial support program for hourly AAC workers in wake of coronavirus

article

DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he’s investigating how he could support hourly workers at the American Airlines Center in the wake of the NBA suspending its season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cuban’s comments came after the Mavericks-Nuggets game in Dallas on Wednesday, during which the NBA said its season would be halted after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.

The owner said he began looking into how he could help AAC employees when it appeared the league was headed toward games being played with no fans.

RELATED: Coronavirus coverage

“I reached out to the folks at the arena and our folks at the Mavs to find out what it would cost to financially support people who aren’t going to be able to come to work,” Cuban said. “They get paid by the hour and this is their source of income, so we’ll do some things there.”

Cuban said he may have the hourly employees at the arena do some volunteer work “in exchange” for the financial assistance.

The work to put a program into place has started, but Cuban didn’t have any specifics on Wednesday night.

His real message was he wanted the workers to know that he cared.

“It’s certainly something that’s important to me.”