Dallas Mavericks guard Reggie Bullock has won the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award.
According to the Bleacher Report, the 31-year-old announced the good news in an Instagram story and wrote, “Super honored to have won this award! My platform isn’t taken for granted and I’ll continue to keep inspiring and doing what’s right for my ppl.”
Former NBA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joined Bullock via video to present the award and later tweeted, “Really proud to see today’s players setting great examples. Congratulations Reggie Bullock for being a true leader on and off the court.”
The NBA said the “award recognizes a current NBA player for pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically marginalized or systemically disadvantaged.”
The basketball star has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community since his sister, Mia Henderson, a transgender woman, was murdered in 2014, Yahoo! Sports reported.
“It’s incredibly important to me as a cisgender athlete to stand in support of the trans and LGBTQ+ community,” he said.
According to the NBA, Bullock recently took part in a panel discussion as part of the HUDDLE series, which aims to “uplift the trans community, amplify community organizations working to support and protect LGBTQ individuals, and create opportunities for allyship.” The conversation, titled “Voices Unheard: Uplifting Trans Perspectives,” was released on March 31 to coincide with International Day of Trans Visibility.
Bullock has been awarded $100,000 and has chosen to donate those funds to Kinston Teens, a youth-led organization in Kinston, North Carolina.
The other four finalists are Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday, Memphis Grizzlies center Jaren Jackson Jr., Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns and Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet. They each will receive $25,000 and will be able to donate to a social justice organization of their choice as well.
Bullock is the second player to receive the social justice award since its inception last year. Carmelo Anthony was named the inaugural Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion in 2021.