Pope Francis gave his blessing to the Hawks’ MLK City Edition jersey

BarDown Staff

h/t Twitter/ATLHawks

Every year, each team in the NBA unveils new City Edition jerseys that pay homage to their communities and home markets, and the Atlanta Hawks decided to dedicate theirs to Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born and raised in Atlanta on this day (January 15) in 1929.

While the Hawks will officially debut the jersey on MLK Day next Monday, they decided to honour MLK’s birthday by sending a custom jersey to Pope Francis, who gave the jersey his blessing.

𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬. 🙌

On Dr. King's birthday, @Pontifex blessed our 20-21 MLK Nike City Edition jersey to honor our shared commitment to making positive change in social equality, economic empowerment and love.

🔗: https://t.co/ob7sSp0J9H #EarnTheseLetters pic.twitter.com/Hy8xts7t9y
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 15, 2021

Before the season, Pope Francis also arranged a meeting in Vatican City with a contingent of NBA players and league officials to discuss their efforts toward social justice.

Pope Francis and five NBA players (Marco Belinelli, Sterling Brown, Jonathan Isaac, Kyle Korver, Anthony Tolliver) will meet on Monday in Vatican City to discuss the players’ efforts around social justice.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 23, 2020