Nets' Tsai helps facilitate donation of 1,000 ventilators for New York

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the Chinese government is donating 1,000 ventilators that are scheduled to arrive on Saturday.

Cuomo thanked Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai and his Alibaba executive partner Jack Ma for helping facilitate the donation.

Later Saturday, Cuomo announced the NBA would contribute one million surgical masks for essential workers in collaboration with the Nets and New York Knicks.

New York City remains the epicenter in the U.S. for the global COVID-19 pandemic, with Cuomo reporting more than 63,000 confirmed cases and over 2,600 deaths as of Saturday. With the strain on hospitals, the governor warned on Thursday the city could run out of ventilators next week.

New York State has reported 113,000-plus cases of the coronavirus as of Saturday, while there are over 150,000 people infected in the tri-state area around New York City.

Tsai took majority control of the Nets last year. He holds Canadian and Taiwanese citizenship and primarily resides in Hong Kong.