By Alex Andrejev, Law Murray, Will Guillory, Jovan Buha and Steven Louis Goldstein
LOS ANGELES — Entertainment and inspiration in the face of tragedy. That’s what coaches in Monday’s NBA games in Los Angeles — the first since deadly wildfires began erupting and spreading in the greater L.A. area — said they are hoping to provide for fans after a devastating week for the community.
“It’s our job to go give strength, and give hope and give joy,” Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said ahead of Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. “Sports are a lot of things and sports can certainly provide an escape and a distraction. Hopefully, sports, tonight, can provide some joy as well.”
Like the hundreds of thousands whose lives have been upended by the fires, which have engulfed tens of thousands of acres and forced mass evacuations, Redick is familiar with the destruction. He previously shared that the house he rented burned down in the Palisades Fire.
Redick said Monday he was “overwhelmed” by the support he, his family and others affected by the fires, including “a number of people” within the Lakers organization, have been shown.
But ultimately, Redick turned his attention away from the distressing week, for at least a few hours, as his Lakers resumed play at Crypto.com Arena, located less than 20 miles from where evacuation orders were issued for the still-burning Palisades Fire along the Pacific Coast. The matchup, featuring two of the league’s biggest stars in LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama, was originally scheduled for Saturday but postponed due to the ongoing fires. That followed another postponement for a Lakers game in Los Angeles, against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday.
Farther southwest, the LA Clippers also returned to action at home Monday, hosting the Miami Heat at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., after their Saturday game against the Hornets was postponed. Both the Lakers and Clippers played games on the road last week, and Monday marked their first home contests since the Palisades Fire started Tuesday.
The Clippers are back home pic.twitter.com/ZA2x5vOqsC
— Law Murray 🔜 (@LawMurrayTheNU) January 14, 2025
“I hope it can bring some smiles to some faces,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said ahead of the game. “Get their thoughts off the devastating fires right now. And we know, life experiences trump everything in sports. When you’re losing houses, when you’re losing families, losing lives, that’s the most important thing. But hopefully we can step away for a few hours and just enjoy basketball and come together with some friends and family and watch the game.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the team didn’t know whether they would make the trip to Los Angeles until after their game Saturday in Portland.
“We understand our responsibility. We want to do whatever we can in this profession. We want to come here with great empathy and grace. If our role is to provide entertainment and inspiration, then that’s our role,” Spoelstra said. “While we’re doing that, we’re thinking about all the devastation and all the people who are dealing with it. It’s just been horrible.”
As of Monday, the Palisades and Eaton fires have been partially contained but have become two of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history, according to The New York Times. Officials told multiple outlets that at least 24 people have died due to the fires as of Monday night.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard was among those impacted by the fires. He missed the team’s game in Denver last week to return home and attend to family members evacuating from the Pacific Palisades area. Leonard rejoined the Clippers when they returned from Denver and started Monday night’s game.
The fires also prompted changes for other Los Angeles-area sports teams, including the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, and within college sports, as Pepperdine, USC and UCLA basketball games were postponed amid the fires.
The Rams’ wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday was relocated from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood to the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The Lakers, Clippers, Rams, Chargers and Kings were among 12 professional sports teams in Los Angeles that pledged to donate more than $8 million to support victims and those fighting the fires.
This story will be updated.
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(Photo: Kiyoshi Mio / Imagn Images)
