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As the NBA goes on break, New York Knicks owner James Dolan will compensate Madison Square Garden workers during the hiatus.

The NBA is facing an unprecedented moment—a midseason stoppage of play due to a pandemic. A stoppage like this means a lot of people who work at arenas are losing work. Fortunately, many owners are stepping up and promising to compensate those employees through the hiatus.

New York Knicks owner James Dolan plans to do just that.

“We’ve already taken immediate action this week and are working on a longer-term plan,’’ a Garden source told Marc Berman of the New York Post.

The Knicks did not put out a press release like other teams, but they are working to ensure that the Madison Square Garden staff is not forgotten. In addition to the Knicks and Rangers games, the workers also lost the vast majority of the Big East Tournament. According to Berman, Dolan will be working out a plan to compensate workers for those games as well.

In addition to the owners, a number of NBA stars have stepped up to help cover the stadium employees. Kevin started the trend by pledging $100,000 to the employees of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. He was promptly followed by Blake Griffin, Zion Williamson, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Stephen Curry.

Rudy Gobert was the first NBA player to test positive for coronavirus and now he’s pledging $500,000 to the employees of Vivint Smart Home Arena. Gobert is catching a ton of heat for not taking coronavirus seriously, but he deserves credit for stepping up.

NY/NJ hoops reporter (NBA/NCAA) & sports betting writer for XL Media. Never had the makings of a varsity athlete.