The NBA has informed the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers that they will resume their seasons on Monday after having games postponed due to the fires in Southern California, ESPN reports. The Lakers will host the San Antonio Spurs while the Clippers will host the Brooklyn Nets. The Lakers had two games postponed due to the fires, one against the Charlotte Hornets and another against the Spurs. The Clippers had a single game postponed, Saturday’s matchup against the Hornets.
The fires have ravaged areas within Los Angeles County like Pacific Palisades and Altadena. At present, at least 16 people have died, more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed and over 150,000 people have been evacuated. Among those affected was Lakers coach JJ Redick. The home his family had been renting burned down in the fire, and he told reporters that has family had lost “everything we owned that was of any importance us.”
“I was not prepared for what I saw,” Redick said after seeing the damage firsthand. “It’s complete devastation and destruction. I had to go kind of a different way to the house, but I went through most of the village and it’s all gone. I don’t think you can ever prepare yourself for something like that.”
The childhood home of Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr also burned down, though his 90-year-old mother was thankfully evacuated before that happened. Clippers star Kawhi Leonard stepped away from the team last week to be with family impacted by the fires. It is not clear when Leonard, who made his season debut on Jan. 4, will return to the team.
The postponed games have not yet been rescheduled, and finding suitable dates for all teams involved will be challenging. Fortunately, as the Clippers have moved into the Intuit Dome this season, the Lakers and Clippers won’t have to schedule around each other’s needs, though the Lakers do still share Crypto.com Arena with the NHL’s Kings, who themselves had a game against the Calgary Flames postponed.
