NBA Star Kyrie Irving bought a house for the family of George Floyd, the black man who died last year at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
On “The Rematch” podcast, Stephen Jackson, a former NBA player and was a close friend of Floyd’s, discussed the gift and the outpouring of support for Floyd’s 7-year-old daughter, Gianna.
Floyd died in May due to asphyxiation after former police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost eight minutes.
Chauvin is scheduled for a trial in March on charges of second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other officers were fired and also face federal charges in relation to Floyd’s murder.
Floyd’s death inspired protests across America and all over the world.
Jackson said in the podcast that he’d known Floyd since he was a teenager and said everyone called them twins.
“Kyrie Irving bought them a house. Lil Wayne’s manager bought them a Mercedes-Benz. Barbra Streisand gave them stock in Disney, so I think God has definitely blessed her and right now she’s doing the best she’s ever done, she’s happy,” Jackson told host Etan Thomas on the podcast.
On Tuesday, Irving was asked about the generous gift at a Nets media availability.
“I just want to keep continuing to fulfill our purpose in serving a lot of the underserved communities. Those don’t necessarily get the same attention from just others around,” Irving said. “So just trying to do my part with service, that’s all.”
Jackson said in a statement that Irving had been checking in on him to see what he could do.
“He wanted to help George’s family and I let him know that a house was what they needed at that time and he made it happen in a heartbeat,” Jackson said.
A GoFundMe campaign for Gianna has raised more than $2.3 million and Kanye West also set up a college fund for her as part of a $2 million donation to help her family and the families of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.
Texas Southern University has also offered her a full scholarship if Gianna decides to attend the school.