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 were hoping to provide for fans after a devastating week for the community.
“I think a group functions best when you draw strength from each other. … Then 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 126-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. “Sports are a lot of things and sports can certainly provide an escape and a distraction. Hopefully, sports, and 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, the coach 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.
Fans who attended Monday’s contest noticed a subdued scene. One vendor outside the arena noted how the parking lots are typically full and the streets packed with cars for a game, but this night didn’t quite feel typical.
“It feels a bit eerie this time around,” said the vendor, Happi Corpus, a Los Angeles resident. “But there will be unity inside. You can hear across the street [at a bar]people are together for the Rams too. Thank goodness for sports. They give us relief, even temporarily, before we have to wake up tomorrow and figure out what’s next.”
“It’s a weird feeling,” said Hannah Wagner, who attended the game. “You look around and want to help the community as much as you can, but you have to sit tight when you have to sit tight. It feels different tonight — you walk in and instantly see the donation drive for basic necessities. Nothing is normal when something like this happens in such a large metro area, but there’s a therapy in coming together.”
Before the game tipped off, the Lakers — whose players wore warmup shirts that said “thank you first responders” on their backs — held a moment of silence. Point guard Gabe Vincent also addressed the crowd at center court, urging unity and support for those in need.
Anthony Davis, who scored a game-high 30 points for the Lakers, called it a “tough situation” for the city.
“One thing we found out through the course of COVID is that sports kinda brings joy back to people, even if it’s temporary,” Davis said. “And we were eager to play basketball again in front of our fans. … Tough time, but we’re going to get through it together.”
-Farther southwest, the LA Clippers also returned to action at home Monday, beating the Miami Heat 109-98 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.
“It was hard, just understanding what everyone’s going through,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said after the game about playing following the circumstances of the past week. “The whole city and just everyone rallying behind each other, just trying to do what they can to help support friends, families, neighbors.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his 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 ahead of the game. “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.”
Clippers guard James Harden, who scored 26 points and dished a game-high 11 assists, spoke about the impact of the fires after the game, saying, “It’s something you can’t control, and it’s frustrating. So I feel for the people (who are) out there that had to be evacuated and lost homes and lost loved ones, that lost everything they had. So we’ll figure out how to help people.”
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. 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 scored six points in 21 minutes during Monday night’s game, which was played with 13,119 people in attendance — the lowest of any Clippers game this season. Leonard said he spent his time back home “just trying to get the family in order, making sure that everybody is settled and making sure everyone is safe.”
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.
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(Photo: Kiyoshi Mio / Imagn Images)