NBA coaches Steve Kerr and JJ Redick say family members evacuated their homes amid Pacific Palisades wildfires

By George Ramsay and Kevin Dotson, CNN

(CNN) — Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr acknowledged the “terrifying” impact of the wildfires in California, while also revealing that his mother was forced to evacuate her home in Pacific Palisades.

Tens of thousands of people were told to flee their homes as a fast-growing fire spread across the Palisades area on Tuesday, while others sought safety after abandoning their cars on highways.

The fire has already ripped across more than 15,800 acres Wednesday with zero containment. It has destroyed at least 1,000 structures, making it the most destructive ever in Los Angeles County, according to Cal Fire.

After the Warriors’ 114-98 loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday, Kerr described how his mother had evacuated her home, while team video assistant Everett Dayton, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, lost his family home in the fire.

“Everything I’m seeing and reading is just terrifying, what’s happening down there,” Kerr told reporters. “So, just wanted to send thoughts to everyone who’s going through the devastation of the fire.”

While the Palisades fire has been growing at a rate of about five football fields a minute, two other fires have also erupted in Los Angeles County: the 500-acre Hurst fire north of San Fernando and the Eaton fire in Altadena, which grew to 1,000 acres in a matter of hours. More than 200,000 homes and buildings are currently without power in LA county.

Speaking to reporters before his team’s 118-97 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, LA Lakers head coach JJ Redick revealed that his family has also been affected by the fires.

“I just want to acknowledge and send thoughts and prayers to everyone in the Palisades right now,” Redick said. “It’s where I live, my family and my wife’s family, my wife’s twin sister, they’ve evacuated.

“I know that a lot of people are freaking out right now, including my family. From the sound of things, with the winds coming tonight, I know a lot of people are scared.”

After reports came out that Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard left the team ahead of Wednesday’s game in Denver to return to California, head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters that the six-time All-Star is back with his family.

“You definitely have to take care of home. … Totally had my support 100%,” Lue said. “Going back, checking on his family and kids, making sure they’re well. And he got back, and they’re doing okay, so just happy and thankful for that.”

Lue admitted that the wildfires might affect the team’s performance against the Nuggets.

“We know we have a task at hand, but you know a lot of people are affected by what’s going on,” Lue said.

“We know we have a game that we have to play that we wanna win. And so, just give everything we got you know despite. It’s hard to put things like this behind you when so many people are affected. But it’s something we gotta try to do tonight. It’s gonna be tough. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to do it or not. But we gotta go out there and compete at a high level and give everything we got.”

The Clippers were blown out 126-103.

Beyond the NBA, the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams said that “our hearts are with those affected by the Palisades wildfires and the first responders protecting our community. Be safe.”

The Rams are scheduled to host the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round of the playoffs Monday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

The NFL said Wednesday the game is still scheduled to go on planned. However, should Los Angeles not be able to host the game, the league said the contest would be played on Monday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

A state of emergency has been declared in Los Angeles with more than 1,400 firefighters deployed to fight the multiple fires happening across the county, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The-CNN-Wire
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