The national mainstream narrative about Kyrie Irving is that of a basketball master who is also a mercurial menace in the locker room. Not much media discussion or headlines are given to Irving’s many philanthropic endeavors.
Irving, 27, has purchased a home for the family of George Floyd, according to Stephen Jackson, a former NBA player and one of Floyd’s best friends who shared the news on social media.
This comes on the heels of Irving recently announcing that he’s paying the tuition of several students at HBCUs in Pennsylvania. Irving also paid the salary for the players of the WNBA who chose not to play in the 2020 season due to the pandemic.
Speaking on “The Rematch” podcast, Jackson said Irving is a part of a trio of A-list celebrities who have made major contributions to Floyd’s family. “Kyrie Irving bought them a house. Lil Wayne’s manager bought them a Mercedes-Benz. Barbra Streisand gave them stock in Disney,” Jackson said.
Floyd’s passing on Memorial Day 2020 spawned an international rebellion as well as a wholesale condemnation of police brutality against Black people.
Marc J. Spears, a reporter with The Undefeated, stated that Irving made the purchase for the bereaved family approximately six months ago.
This is but one of a recent succession of philanthropic acts by Irving that have managed to attract only a fraction of the media attention his unexplained absence from the Brooklyn Nets has produced.
Rolling out reported that Irving used his KAI Family Foundation in December to pay the tuition for nine Lincoln University students for the 2021 school year. In March 2020, Irving gave $323,000 and 250,000 meals to people negatively impacted by the pandemic. A few months later, Irving donated $1.5 million to WNBA players who chose to sit out the 2020 season.
