Kyrie Irving, who’s made headlines as of late for all the wrong reasons, might give opposing defenders and Nets brass headaches, but off the court, he’s a real solid dude.
We recently reported that Irving paid the tuition for students at HBCU Lincoln University, and now, according to former NBA star Stephen Jackson, comes the scoop that he’s also helped the family of George Floyd, whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers sparked a racial reckoning throughout the world—sorta kinda.
During an interview on The Rematch, a podcast hosted by former baller turned author and activist Etan Thomas, Jackson discussed the bond he had with Floyd—who was a childhood friend of his—and how he’s taken in Floyd’s daughter, Gianna.
“She’s getting so much love, from not just us, but from people all around the world who are showing support,” Jackson said. “I’m just continuing to do what I said I was going to do. I said I was going to be my brother’s keeper and take care of his daughter and make sure that her next days are her best days. I had a lot of my friends—Kyrie Irving bought them a house. Lil Wayne’s manager bought them a Mercedes-Benz. Barbra Streisand gave them stock in Disney.”
Marc Spears of The Undefeated reports that Kyrie—a 2020 The Root 100 honoree—helped the family purchase the home five or six months ago.
Say what you want about the man butting heads with teammates, waging war on the media, damn near inciting a civil war among players prior to the NBA bubble, or his unreliability—when last we checked, he’s missed seven consecutive games and counting after dipping on his team for “personal reasons”—but off the court, he’s got a heart of gold.
When he’s not paying for college students’ tuition or purchasing houses for the families of victims of police brutality, he’s offering financial assistance to WNBA players or partnering with Feed America to “to help families who are struggling to put meals on the table amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He’s the textbook definition of the word “polarizing.”
Check out the full episode of Etan Thomas’ The Rematch here.