With Kyrie Irving on the verge of making her 2021-22 season debut, Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty owners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai are waiting for star point guards to join the team on the court.
"I'm glad we were able to reach a decision together," Wu Tsai told ESPN about Irving's return as a part-time player; New York City's vaccine mandate prevents him from playing in home games. "I'm excited to see him bring his artistry back on the court."
Nets and Irving were separated from October 12, but that didn't stop Wu Tsai and Irving from texting. The two have bonded over their passion for equality over the years.
As one of four majority owners of color in the NBA, Tsai and Wu Tsai have been active with NBA and WNBA players' emphasis on social justice, awareness and advancement of issues of race and gender.
"Joe and Clara have taken leadership roles in advocating for social justice," NBA commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN. “Through his family foundation, the Reform Coalition, and other efforts, he has dedicated himself to combating discrimination of any kind. The work he is doing at the local level through his Social Justice Fund is Will go a long way in driving greater economic empowerment for communities of color. Brooklyn."
Wu Tsai has advocated for criminal justice reform as a board member on the Reform Alliance alongside artists Jay-Z and Meek Mill and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, while Tsai has advocated for The Asian to combat discrimination and prejudice. American Foundation (TAAF).
"It is amazing that there is a convergence between my own personal ambition to work towards equality, racial and social justice, and the collective desire of minority communities and some NBA athletes to achieve equal results," Wu Tsai said. "As managers of NBA and WNBA teams, our megaphone is powerful in bringing attention to issues, and it is our responsibility to highlight injustice and help create momentum for change."
Following the murder of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake in 2020, NBA and WNBA players raised their voices against police brutality and racial inequality. Many players wanted to see the league and its team owners support them and join the fight.
"I can only speak for myself, [but players] want authenticity," Garrett Temple, a New Orleans Pelicans guard and vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, told ESPN. "If our values ... are combined with their resources, they can be the people who do it. See some real things happen, not just verbal ones.
"I've had several conversations with Clara. She has come to me for advice about the best ways to attack certain issues."
Tsais, who took an interest in the Nets in August 2019, donated $50 million through his foundation in 2020 to launch the Social Justice Fund, which focuses on helping communities of color in the borough of Brooklyn.
Tsais is on the NBA's board of governors, which provided $300 million in initial funding to the NBA Foundation to promote economic opportunities in the black community.
Like many Black players passionate about Black Lives Matter, the U.S. Tsai's experience as a person of color in the U.S. shaped her involvement with the Stop Asian Hate movement. He is the co-founder of Alibaba Group and is the executive vice president of the company. At the age of 13, he moved from Taiwan to New Jersey for school.
In April 2020, Tsai was on an afternoon walk outside San Diego, where she noticed a gray pickup truck stopped about 20 feet ahead of her. She saw a male driver and a female passenger both staring at her in the rearview and side mirrors.
Tsai, 57, said she had never visited the U.S. until that moment. I did not "feel physically threatened". With the coronavirus spreading across the country, discrimination against Asians was on the rise.
"Should I just run away and pretend nothing happened?" Tsai told ESPN. "What could be worse? He might be yelling at me. Maybe he'll spit at me through the window. Then I thought, 'Wait a minute, this is a country where people are allowed to carry guns. What if He has a gun and tries to attack me?'"
Tsai turned and went back home. The truck did not follow, but the owner of the Nets said he could not shake the feeling.
Inspired to do something, Tsai helped launch TAAF, which was formed to provide the infrastructure to advocate for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Sai and other board members also contributed $125 million to support the AAPI community.
In a show of support, Damien Lillard of Portland wore a "Stop Asian Hate" shirt to a game last March. According to the FBI, hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders increased by 73% in 2020. Between March 2020 and September 2021, 10,370 incidents were reported against Asians for Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition launched to track and respond to incidents against Asians and Pacific Islanders.
"All the anti-Asian hate sentiments were a direct result of [former President Donald] Trump calling COVID the 'Wuhan virus,' the 'Chinese virus,'" Tsai said. "...and as a result 23 million Asian Americans are harmed. You don't even need to be Chinese. It could be Korean, Thai, Filipino, Japanese, you're under attack, and especially older people . It's just atrocious. So we have to do something about it."
Wu Tsai has helped players with issues such as voting law and criminal justice over the years. He hosted a show of "Just Mercy" with Brian Stevenson—the lawyer and social justice activist featured in the film—for the Nets in 2019, which inspired Temple to pursue a law degree and prompted Irving to communicate more with her. inspired to.
"Clara is one of the smartest and most strategic executives I've been around," Mill told ESPN. "When it comes to fighting for criminal justice reform, she's not afraid to ask tough questions — to solve even tougher problems. Her leadership inspires me."
As an Asian American woman and owner of the NBA, Wu Tsai understands her influence in the male-dominated sports world.
"I hope my presence will reshape how women are viewed in sport," said Wu Tsai, who is becoming more involved with Liberty. "And as a result, reshape the way women and girls see themselves."
With Irving back in court, Wu Tsai will continue her talks on gender equality with the NBPA's vice president.
"He's quite a supporter of the WNBA," she said, "because it also funded the salaries of women who lost it because they didn't go into the bubble. We talked a lot about it."