A delegation of five N.B.A. players and officials from the players association met privately with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday to discuss their efforts toward addressing social justice and economic inequality.
The visit came after the Vatican extended an invitation to the players’ union, saying the pope wanted to learn more about their activities. Michele Roberts, the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, joined Kyle Korver, Sterling Brown, Anthony Tolliver, Marco Belinelli and Jonathan Isaac, players who are all active in the union, at the meeting.
“I thought it was a fraud email that I got,” Korver, who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, said. “I called Michele right away.
I was like, ‘Is this for real?’ She said, ‘Yes, it is and would you like to come in like two days?’ This came together really quick.”
After the 30-minute meeting, the players and officials still appeared stunned as they talked about it on video calls with reporters. “I’m still not even sure if this really happened,” Roberts said.
The players took turns addressing the pope and offered him a book documenting many of their community and social initiatives in the last few months as well as jerseys and a Black Lives Matter T-shirt.
