Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown made headlines in 2023 after signing a massive five-year, $304 million contract extension. He raised more than a few eyebrows because of his massive contract – the largest in NBA history – and what he planned to do with his money.
“I want to launch a project to bring Black Wall Street here in Boston. I want to attack the wealth disparity here,” he told reporters at a press conference. “I think there’s analytics that supports that stimulating the wealth gap could actually be something that could be better meant for the entire economy.”
Brown explained that his plan involved investing in the community by collaborating with leaders and government officials to create jobs and resources for low-income Black neighborhoods in Bean Town.
Brown is just one example of current and retired Black athletes who use their wealth and platform to drive Black economic empowerment.
That’s because America has a shameful racist history of keeping Black folks in poverty. The median white household enjoyed a $240,120 difference over the median Black household, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of federal data.
“From Reconstruction to Jim Crow, to the present day, our economy has never worked fairly for Black Americans — or, really, for any American of color,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s annual MLK breakfast in 2022.
Like Brown, NBA superstar LeBron James has been at the forefront among active athletes. Through his LeBron James Family Foundation, he has poured financial resources back into the Akron, Ohio, community that raised him.
As The New York Times explained, King James is part of a movement led by socially responsible real estate developers to construct buildings and neighborhoods that utilize a mix of assets, including quality schools, health care, safe streets and recreational facilities.
James and Brown stand on the shoulders of an earlier generation of Black athletes.
Legendary L.A. Lakers guard Magic Johnson started wearing a business suit after retiring from the NBA. According to Forbes, he has owned over 100 Starbucks locations, dozens of movie theaters and Burger King franchises, held ownership stakes in professional sports teams, and purchased major urban real estate and developments.
Over the decades, he has been a catalyst for urban economic empowerment. In October, he used his acquired business acumen at the Financial Empowerment Summit in Chicago to discuss the keys to financial success.
Other retired athletes, like former NFL running back Warrick Dunn, are less well-known but hard at work helping Black families build wealth. In Dunn’s case, he’s helping single mothers purchase houses, the primary source of generational wealth for most Americans.
As WMGT reported in March, Dunn partnered with the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity to help two Black Georgia single moms buy their first homes.
So far, Warrick Dunn Charities has helped 223 single parents buy homes nationwide. In 2021, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons player told CNN that his Buccaneers head coach, Tony Dungy, encouraged him as a rookie to find a way to give back.
“I wanted to do something that was a little bit more impactful, not just handing out turkeys. I wanted to do something that had a real impact in the community,” he said.
