How much has Kyrie Irving donated to good causes in USA during the NBA 2020-21 season?

Recently, Kyrie Irving has been at receiving end of some harsh criticism as he missed seven consecutive games for Nets. six-time NBA All-Star was seen partying without a mask, causing fans to question his commitment and NBA to levy a $50,000 fine for protocol violation. However, his commitment to social causes remains unquestioned as reports look at multiple donations Irving made in 2020 alone. 

Also read | Kyrie Irving starts $1.5m fund to cover salaries of WNBA players who will skip season

Kyrie Irving donations throughout last year

When NBA season was to resume at Orlando bubble last year, Irving was highlighted as player against decision. 28-year-old wanted to focus and make most of opportunity given, supporting Black Lives Matter movement however y could. Throughout his time in league, Irving has made countless donations, always stepping up when needed.

One of his most significant moves was to pledge $1.5 million to WNBA players who opted out of 2020 season. In his statement, 2016 NBA Champion spoke about helping any person who has decided to opt-out to "fight for social justice, play basketball, focus on physical or mental health, or simply connect with ir families". 

Also read | Kyrie Irving gifted George Floyd's family a house: Stephen Jackson

Irving emphasised that this is an initiative aimed at supporting ir priorities and decisions. Per reports, payments were to be distributed via KAI Empowerment Initiative, which was launched by Irving himself. 

Additionally, Irving has also paid college tuition fees for nine HBCU students from Lincoln University. To hour late Kobe Bryant and help out during COVID-19, he gave $323,000 to Feeding America along with Line Logistics, who put in $200,000 of its own to help people deal with coronavirus outbreak. He also teamed up with City Harvest to donate 250,000 meals in New York. 

Reports also speak about his partnership with Nike, which will donate 17 pallets of food and 50,000 masks to Standing Rock Sioux reservation. More recently, Stephen Jackson spoke about Nets guard gifting a house to George Floyd's family. 

When will Kyrie Irving return to play with Nets?

Irving has missed seven games with Nets after initially pulling out of one due to personal reasons. While he apologized for being away, he refused to discuss matters involved. Though team is yet to confirm, Irving might return to play against Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday (Thursday IST). 

Also read | Kyrie Irving hours Kobe by donating $323,000, 250K meals to COVID-19-affected families

Kyrie Irving salary and net worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Irving's net worth is $90 million. Forbes reports that most of his income comes from endorsement deals, which includes brands like Pepsi and Nike. In 2019, he signed a $141 million deal with Nets. Per Spotrac, that will amount to a total of $230,126,849 in career earnings. 

(Disclaimer: above information is sourced from various websites/ media reports. website does t guarantee a 100% accuracy of figures.)

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