Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Los Angeles Lakers coach J.J. Redick says he hopes the team’s return to action on Saturday can “give people hope” after seeing his Pacific Palisades home incinerated in the deadly wildfires that have ravaged the city. The Lakers postponed a scheduled home game against Charlotte on Thursday due to the blazes, which have left at least 11 people dead and destroyed around 10,000 homes and other buildings. It means the Lakers will return to play on Saturday to face the San Antonio Spurs in what promises to be an emotionally charged occasion before their fans at the Crypto.com Arena.
Redick was one of several members of the Lakers organization directly impacted by the fires, seeing his family’s rented property in Pacific Palisades, the ground zero of the disaster, consumed by the flames. On Friday, Redick became emotional as he spoke to reporters about the personal impact of the disaster on his family. “I’m not sure I’ve wept or wailed like that in several years,” said Redick, who was living in the house with his wife, Chelsea, and their two sons.
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“It was not prepared for what I saw,” Redick said of visiting Pacific Palisades after returning home from the Lakers’ road game at Dallas in the early hours of Wednesday morning. By that stage, Redick’s family had been evacuated to a hotel. The Lakers coach then paid a visit to his home early Wednesday to assess the situation. “It was complete devastation and destruction. I went a different way to the house through the village, and it’s all gone,” Redick said. “I don’t think you can ever prepare yourself for something like that. Our home is gone. We moved out here, and the Palisades community has really been so good to us. That’s the part to us that we’re really struggling with. I recognize that people make up community and we’re going to rebuild and we’re going to lead on that.”
“But all the churches, the schools, the library — it’s all gone. So obviously we want to give people hope, and I don’t want to say a distraction, but maybe an escape. We talked about it as a group before practice today. And it’s our responsibility and everybody in this building to lead on this and help people.”
Redick said his family had lost “irreplaceable” items in the destruction. “Everything that we owned that was of any importance to us in almost 20 years together as a couple and 10 years of parenting was in that house,” he said. “There’s certain things that you can’t replace, that will never be replaced,” he added, citing a charcoal picture of a lighthouse his son had drawn for an art project which had been framed and hung on a wall.
Other sports figures were also among those grappling with the devastation. Five-time Olympic swimming gold medallist Gary Hall Jr. said he evacuated his Pacific Palisades house taking only his dog, the insulin he uses to treat his diabetes, a painting of his grandfather, and a religious artifact. He was unable to return to the house to get his five gold, three silver, and two bronze medals he won over the course of three Olympic Games in 1996, 2000, and 2004. “I was getting pelted by embers on that first run,” Hall said. “So I grabbed my dog and some dog food, and that was it,” he told the Los Angeles Times. Hall, who found refuge with family in San Diego, told the Times he was preparing for “a complete rebuild” of his life.
Meanwhile, the NFL said Friday that the league and four of its teams are donating $5 million to support Los Angeles communities impacted by the fires. The NFL said in a statement on Friday that its two Los Angeles teams, the Rams and Chargers, and their opponents in the wild card playoff round, the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans, had pledged $1 million each, which would be matched by the NFL Foundation, the league’s philanthropic arm.
© 2024 AFP
