Lakers' JJ Redick Talks 'Complete Devastation' from LA Wildfires After Losing Home
January 10, 2025
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick gave an emotional account of the "complete devastation" left behind by the wildfires that burned down his family's rental home in the Pacific Palisades.
"I was not prepared. I was not prepared for what I saw," Redick said Friday about returning to his neighborhood after the fire. "It's complete devastation and destruction. ... I went through most of the village, and it's all gone. And I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for something like that. Our home is gone.
"Look, we were renting for the year, to try to figure out where we wanted to be long-term. Everything we own, that was of any importance to us, almost 20 years together as a couple and 10 years of parenting, was in that house. There's certain things that you can't replace, that will never be replaced."
Redick continued: "The Palisades community has really just been so good to us. And that's, I think that's the part for us that we're really struggling with, is just the loss of community.
"And I recognize that people make up community, and we're gonna rebuild, and we want to help lead on that. But all the churches, the schools, the library, it's all gone."
Redick said he was still ready to coach if the Lakers are able to play the San Antonio Spurs as scheduled Saturday night in Los Angeles.
"I want to play tomorrow. I want to coach tomorrow. I want these guys to play tomorrow," Redick said. "And if we can play, we'll play."
The Spurs and Lakers are currently scheduled to tip off at Crypto.com Arena at 10:30 p.m. ET.
The Lakers' previously scheduled Thursday home game against the Charlotte Hornets was postponed due to the wildfires. The Los Angeles Kings' and Los Angeles Rams' schedules have also been impacted by the fires.
At least 10 people have died in the wildfires, which had destroyed almost 10,000 structures as of Thursday night, according to Reuters.
As of Friday afternoon, five wildfires were still active across more than 35,000 acres, according to CAL FIRE.
"For our family, we're as committed as ever to Los Angeles," Redick said. "We recognize it's not just our community that has been impacted by this. There's people in Malibu, there's people in Brentwood. There's people up in the valley, there's people in Pasadena. It's all over L.A., and if there's anything we can do to help and lead, we will.
"We're still figuring that out. It's still pretty fresh. But we're committed to helping other people as much as we can. We're gonna do that, and we recognize that it's gonna be a long process."
Redick noted that multiple members of the Lakers' staff had lost their homes to the wildfires, including Lakers chief legal officer Dan Grigsby and associate general counsel Josh Green.
Lakers video producer Rohan Ali also lost his childhood home to the fires. Lakers players Anthony Davis and Jarred Vanderbilt contributed to a GoFundMe page set up by Ali after the fire.
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr previously told reporters that his childhood home burned down in the fires and that his mother had safely evacuated.
B/R Recommends