Jrue and wife Lauren Holiday made a big announcement on Wednesday as the former will be donating the remainder of his game checks this season to charity. Jrue appeared on ESPN’s The Jump to make the formal announcement but spoke with ESPN’s Andrew Lopez as well on the matter.
The $5.3 million Holiday will be donating will go toward starting the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Justice Impact Fund, described in the ESPN piece with a focus “to aid communities in New Orleans, Indianapolis and the Los Angeles area.” Jrue is a native of Los Angeles and has played most of his career in New Orleans. Both of his brothers, Justin and Aaron, play in Indianapolis for the Pacers.
Here are Holiday’s quotes to Lopez on starting the foundation:
“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.
“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.”
Lauren recently penned a piece for The Player’s Tribune detailing a case of racism experienced by both her and Jrue. Lopez also broke down some of the details of where the money will go in regards to the foundation. Up to $1.5 million will be designated to bring about equitable outcomes for Black and Brown communities in New Orleans, Los Angeles and Compton while $1 million will be allotted to Indianapolis. An additional $1 million will go to Black-owned businesses in cities across the country and $500,000 will go to institutions of higher learning, including historically Black colleges and universities.
While his commitment hasn’t come in a financial aspect, Lonzo Ball has also taken a step forward in supporting similar causes, notably being a member of the Social Justice Leadership Coalition.