The Los Angeles Lakers game against the Charlotte Hornets, which was scheduled to be played Thursday evening at the Crypto.com Arena, was postponed due to wildfires continuing to wreak havoc in the Los Angeles area. One of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the disaster was Lakers coach JJ Redick, whose family had to be evacuated.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Redick confirmed that the house his family was renting had burned down: one of 10,000 structures destroyed to date. During a lengthy press session, Redick spoke about these heartbreaking events, which have already claimed 10 lives.
“I wasn’t prepared for what I saw,” Redick said of returning to the neighborhood where his family lived. “It’s complete devastation and destruction. I had to take a different route to get home, but I walked through most of the village and everything was gone. I don’t think we can ever prepare for something like this.
“Our house is gone. Look, we were renting for the year to try to figure out where we wanted to be long term. Everything we owned that had any significance to us, almost 20 years of living together, 10 years of parenting. , was in this house There are some things that can’t be replaced, that never will be It’s weird shit, like my son did an art project last year in St. .Ann’s at Brooklyn was a charcoal painting of a character we had framed above the stairs You can never replace things like that, 18 years together now, Chelsea and I, there were some. things that were in this house that you cannot replace.
Redick said he has been “overwhelmed” by the support he has received from friends and people around the country. NBAand stressed that his family is “committed” to leading the rebuilding efforts as they begin. “If we can do anything to help and lead, we will,” he said. Although he’s only been in charge of the Lakers and living in the area for a few months, they are “more committed than ever” to Los Angeles because the community has been “very good” to them.
“I’m thinking about what’s happened over the last 72 hours, with me being up there and having a number of people with homes in the Palisades also staying at the hotel. You have really an idea of community destruction,” Redick said. said. “That’s the part we really struggle with, just the loss of community. I realize that people are community and we’re going to rebuild it and we want to help lead that. But all churches, schools, “The library, everything has disappeared. I think what hit us the most Tuesday night was the recreation center catching fire. “
“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me and my family. Everything will be fine. There are people who, because of political and insurance issues, are not fine, and we are going to do whatever we can. we can help anyone who is depressed because of this.
The Lakers are scheduled to return to the court Saturday at home against the San Antonio Spurs, and Redick said he hopes the game will be played. The NBA has not yet made an announcement regarding this game or any make-up date for Thursday’s postponed game.
“I want to play tomorrow,” Redick said. “I want to coach tomorrow. I want these guys to play tomorrow. And if we can play, we’ll play.”
