Home Games for Lakers and Clippers to Resume on Monday
The NBA announced that the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers will resume their home games on Monday, following the postponement of their games originally scheduled for Saturday due to the wildfires sweeping through Southern California.
The Lakers will host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, while the Clippers will host the Miami Heat at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, south of the Palisades fire. The teams received the green light from the league to proceed with their games.
The original Saturday games were postponed in response to the wildfires, including the Lakers’ game against the Spurs and the Clippers’ game against the Charlotte Hornets. The Lakers had also previously had a game scheduled for Thursday against the Hornets, which was pushed back.
Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James wrote on the social media platform X, “I pray this nightmare ends soon!” Lakers coach JJ Redick and other team members also shared their emotions, with Redick describing the devastation he witnessed at his family’s rental home in Pacific Palisades.
The Clippers’ coach, Tyronn Lue, expressed his feelings about the situation, saying, “When people are losing their homes, kids are losing schools, losing lives, it’s very difficult to approach the game of basketball because life is bigger than basketball. Hopefully, we can bring some kind of joy with the game coming back tomorrow and some togetherness and try to put some smiles on people’s faces in tough times.”
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced a $1 million donation for immediate relief to the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, and other organizations working to provide assistance to the victims and recovery efforts.
The Lakers, in particular, have been affected, with some team members forced to evacuate their homes and one of their coaches, Redick, losing his family’s rental home in the blaze. The team has launched a donation drive for their upcoming games, urging fans to bring new, in-the-package items to support the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank’s relief efforts.