MONTEREY PARK, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: National Basketball Wives Association (NBWA) members Renee Taplin-Jones, Donna M. Harris-Lewis, Tomi Rose and Mia Wright attend a volunteer day at The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department - Sherman Block Building on September 29, 2017 in Monterey Park, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for National Basketball Wives Association (NBWA))
Recently the National Basketball Wives Association and Morgan Stanley partnered together in an effort to donate more than 15,000 books to 5,000 students in under-resourced areas that have been impacted by current shelter in place orders.
The initiative is tied to the NBWA’s program which works with the nonprofit to close the gap on educational inequities in marginalized communities around the country.
Additionally, the NBWA organized the “Spread Love Fest” a virtual ‘party with a purpose’ that tapped hip-hop artist, entrepreneur and philanthropist, MC LYTE, to host and DJ the experience on Instagram Live.
During the virtual party, the NBWA collected donations from partners, friends and fans to help provide learning resources to families in need. The virtual experience generated more than $7,000 in donations, that will be matched by Morgan Stanley to maximize the overall number of resources that will be donated to students.
I recently caught up with National Basketball Wives Association President Mia Wright on #STAYSCOOPED Presented by Orox Leather.
While on the Instagram Live discussion, Wright discussed a myriad of topics including the coronavirus pandemic, Chicago Bulls Last Dance Documentary detailing the Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Phil Jackson squad. We also discussed the NBWA and tons more.
Check out our notes from our discussion below:
Mia Wright on watching the Last Dance Documentary:
“Oh you best believe! I had a themed outfit! Don’t threaten me with a theme and a good time! [laughs]…I had put on my Jordan jersey and I’m not gonna lie and act like I’m a sneakerhead…I think they were the VI’s though…? But definitely, the whole family was tapped in to the Jordan Documentary: The Last Dance, and there was a lot of tea! I was like, ‘Oh ok! And this is just part one and two? Ok! I see where we’re going with this!’”
On what she can relate to from the documentary that is STILL happening in the NBA now:
“Being underpaid. I thought about my husband, and he was NO Scottie Pippen [laughs]…let’s respect the talents. But that is a real thing and I know of other situations where guys put winning first, and you know it’s interesting because hindsight is ALWAYS 20-20 and I think that the importance of organizations like the NBPA and all that they’re doing for players educating and the brotherhood that they establish. And that’s what we do with the Association because when you know better, you DO better. And I think that we’re finally in a space for even the OG’s are saying we are tired of seeing the same repeated cycles, and we want to help. We want to mentor. And so for me, that was the one standout that went viral. Nobody was privileged or paid attention to what Scottie was making and it happens all day long.”
Mia Wright on classes she would conduct if they had a ‘Rookie Symposium’ for wives or significant others of players in the NBA:
“That takes some good thought. Off the top of the head, I would say most importantly, Finance 101- Understanding how to budget. The importance of it. Why you need to budget and understanding what that financial picture looks like. Let’s make it easy. Let’s just start out with one month, right? – and what comes in and goes out, because I don’t think that there’s a lot of conversation about finances enough until guys are later on in their career or until they stop playing in total, right? And you know, that weighs HEAVILY on the divorce rate with couples specifically in this field because, there’s not a lot of knowledge of what’s happening. So in the ‘Rookie Symposium’, DEFINITELY Finance 101. Understanding your financial statements. Understanding key terms. The questions you ask your brokers/advisors. Understanding the roles of these people that are being placed around you and how you can have just a knowledge of checks and balances, right? This is all STILL finance! So that’s one of it. That would be the core part of the class. Secondly, the importance of growing as your husband or boyfriend is growing in their careers. The husband of you growing. You don’t have to jump right into a career but whatever your passion is. Making sure that you set aside and have goals and plans around your passions specially – not for what you’re doing for your family’s non-profit, not what you’re doing with the kids… but like, what are your goals? Because basketball is only “this” short right? Because in the grand scheme of life especially, when you’re talking about you’re going to stay together. When that’s the intention, we got a lifetime to go. So what are the things that you are going to be doing? – and you don’t have to jump into it immediately, but just having the vision and the blueprint, thinking about it, right? Just having the thought and the awareness. That would be another staple pillar right? And then how do to deal with the onslaught of females – and the extra attention and the one key thing that I would say just for initial one-liner to that is: “whatever you give energy to lives and whatever you don’t give energy to, dies…” and that’s a living testament. I don’t judge women. I don’t put terms on someone because we don’t know people’s walks of life. There’s a lot of history behind EVERYBODY.”