Hawks owner plans to pay part-time workers during hiatus

Atlanta Hawks majority owner Tony Ressler is following the lead of contemporaries like Mark Cuban in taking financial care of employees affected by the suspension of the NBA season.

Ressler will continue to pay his team's full- and part-time employees, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sarah K. Spencer.

"We have a pretty clear set of priorities in this kind of remarkable time that we’re living through," Ressler said. "Protecting our fans, protecting our employees, and protecting the reputation of our league, all of which is important, but let there be no confusion, that means taking care of all of our employees, our full time, our part time."

Team employees who were planning to or scheduled to work for the two upcoming pay periods can expect to be paid, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said.

The league is on a minimum 30-day hiatus due to the global coronavirus pandemic. As of Friday morning, there were 42 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Georgia.

Dallas Mavericks owner Cuban said Wednesday that he would put together a program for hourly workers affected by the NBA shutdown. Franchises like the Toronto Raptors have followed suit.