NBA creating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award

The NBA is creating a new social justice-oriented award in basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s name, honoring players for their work in fighting racial injustice. 

The league announced the news on a press release Thursday.

“Introducing the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award, a new annual honor that will recognize a current NBA player for pursuing social justice and upholding the league’s decades-long values of equality, respect and inclusion,” the league said in their post   

Introducing the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award, a new annual honor that will recognize a current NBA player for pursuing social justice and upholding the league’s decades-long values of equality, respect and inclusion. pic.twitter.com/a0A7xqg6uU

— NBA (@NBA) May 13, 2021

Each NBA team will nominate one player from their team, and five finalists will be selected for the inaugural award.

The winning recipient will receive $100,000 for the charity of his choice, while the other four finalists will receive $25,000 to contribute to a charity of their choice as well. 

“In addition to being one of our greatest players, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has devoted much of his life to advocating for equality and social justice,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in the statement. “With this new award, we are proud to recognize and celebrate NBA players who are using their influence to make an impact on their communities and our broader society.”

Abdul-Jabbar also celebrated the news by sharing a post on Twitter, saying, “I am honored to be a part of this and help the next generation become #Socialjusticechampions.” 

I am honored to be a part of this and help the next generation become #Socialjusticechampions. https://t.co/Oa9VEBRrIO

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) May 13, 2021

Abdul-Jabbar, who is the league’s all-time scoring leader, has spent most of his life fighting against racial inequality. He famously attended the 1967 Cleveland Summit where Bill Russell, Jim Brown and other prominent Black athletes gathered to discuss Muhammad Ali’s refusal to serve in the Vietnam War and created his own foundation to help fund STEM programs in poor communities.

The NBA will announce more details about the inaugural award during its postseason.