JJ Redick loses at home in fires as NBA postpones Hornets-Lakers

The NBA postponed Thursday’s game in Los Angeles between the Hornets and Lakers due to massive wildfires that have claimed over 5,300 structures in the areaincluding the home of Lakers coach JJ Redick.

Sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that Redick’s rental home in Pacific Palisades was one of the structures lost in the largest of several fires that raged in the Los Angeles metropolitan area this week.

Acknowledging the threat to his home Tuesday before the Lakers’ game against the Mavericks in Dallas, Redick said members of his family were among those forced to evacuate homes in the area.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr, meanwhile, lost his childhood home in the Palisades. Kerr said Thursday that his 90-year-old mother, Ann, has been evacuated and is safe.

Thursday marked the second day in a row that a game scheduled to be played in downtown Los Angeles has been postponed. The NHL’s Los Angeles Kings were scheduled to host the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.

The NFL on Thursday also moved Monday’s NFC wild-card playoff game between the host Rams and Vikings from Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

“We are devastated for Los Angeles,” the Lakers said in a statement. “Our thoughts go out to all those affected by this unimaginable situation. And our gratitude goes out to the first responders and all of you who come together when we need each other the most. Tonight’s game will be rescheduled to focus on that matters most today.”

The NBA had not announced a makeup date for the Hornets-Lakers game Thursday afternoon.

“The entire NBA family sends its thoughts and support to the community of Los Angeles during this challenging time,” the league said in a statement. “We are grateful to the thousands of local firefighters and first responders who have shown tremendous bravery. Our prayers remain with those affected by the unimaginable devastation caused by the wildfires.”

Several large fires burned in areas of the greater Los Angeles metroplex after two days of extraordinary winds. A major threat erupted Wednesday night in the Hollywood Hills, close to the heart of the entertainment industry, but had been contained by Thursday morning.

About 180,000 people are under evacuation orders and the fires have consumed about 45 square kilometers – about the size of San Francisco. The Palisades fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles history, with 5,316 structures destroyed by Thursday afternoon.

Kerr said Palisades High School, which is now Palisades Charter High School, is “gone.”

“It’s my hometown,” Kerr said before the Warriors played at Detroit on Thursday night. “And all my friends that are from there, pretty much, they’ve all lost their homes, their family homes, childhood homes, our whole high school is gone. The town looks like it’s just been completely wiped out. It’s surreal and devastating, but luckily most, almost all, escaped.

“The pictures reminded me of Lahaina (fire in Maui) from a few years ago, and that’s why I’m so glad there wasn’t a loss of life like people in Hawaii experienced. But it’s hard to even fathom how Pacific Palisades is rebuilding and how it’s becoming a thriving community again It’s just shocking.

Kerr got a little emotional reflecting on his hometown. He said his mother tried to save as many things as she could — photos and paintings — before leaving the home the family bought in 1969.

“I was just there two weeks ago for dinner,” Kerr said. “The night before our game we just celebrated my mother’s 90th birthday there. Last summer we had a hundred guests up on that hillside and a beautiful night, great memories and it’s an idyllic place. It’s a beautiful city, sunsets every night , just great memories. And my dad taught at UCLA, and so that drive down from Pacific Palisades to campus at UCLA is what I have. made a million times. And so to see the pictures of Sunset Boulevard in the Palisades, it looks apocalyptic and devastating.

“… It’s life with memories and occasions and birthday parties and everything else. And just seeing the devastation, the devastation, it’s just unbelievable.”

Kerr said Everett Dayton, a team video coordinator, has a home in Los Angeles that is “somewhat intact, by a miracle.” He said Draymond Green’s home in Los Angeles is also fine right now.

Clippers star Kawhi Leonard left the team in Denver on Wednesday to head back to Los Angeles after his family was evacuated.

Gusts were expected to intensify Thursday night into Friday morning, with another round of strong winds expected next week, raising concerns that conditions could worsen, the National Weather Service said.

The fire department said Thursday that they do not yet know the cause of the fires, but that they are actively investigating.

ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk and The Associated Press contributed to this report.