NBA games are scheduled to return to wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Monday night, with the Clippers planning to resume their schedule when they host Miami and the Lakers set to host Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio.
The Clippers said at practice Sunday that the NBA had given the go-ahead for the game at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, south of the sprawling Palisades fire. The Spurs were told that, barring changes, they would play the Lakers on Monday as well at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.
“I pray this nightmare ends soon!” Lakers star LeBron James posted on social media.
It’ll be the Clippers’ first game in five days after having their home game against Charlotte on Saturday postponed because of the deadly wildfires across Los Angeles. The Lakers had two home games pushed back, one against the Hornets on Thursday and the other being the first in a planned two-game series against the Spurs on Saturday.
“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,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “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.”
Instead of spending the day before a game resting, the Clippers’ Terance Mann planned to leave practice and scour a storage unit he keeps for useful items.
“I just want to give a lot of clothes, some money, shoes, whatever I can,” he said. “I’m going to go help people out and donate and drive around and do what I can do to help.”
The Lakers announced plans for a donation drive for their upcoming games, starting Monday, asking fans to bring new, in-the-package items to support the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank’s relief efforts.
The Lakers’ UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo will begin serving as a drive-thru donation center on Tuesday, the team said. The Lakers said non-food items such as deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, lotion, waterless shampoo, battery-pack phone chargers, socks, mittens and gloves, hand warmers, beanies and blankets are priorities.
For food items, the Lakers said donations of peanut and other nut butters, protein-based snacks, crackers, peanut butter crackers, trail mix, fruit snacks, energy bars, pop top tuna, pop top chicken, 100% juice boxes, raisins and other dried fruit, UHT milk, individual cereal boxes, water and non-carbonated drinks are welcomed.
The Spurs had to change hotels because of fire concerns after arriving in Los Angeles, and the Heat arrived on Saturday night as scheduled after playing in Portland.
“Obviously, we just want to see the community come back together,” Spurs forward Harrison Barnes said.
Checking apps and watching and listening to 24/7 news about the fires has become a habit since the disaster began Tuesday, with multiple fires burning around Los Angeles County.
“I’ve watched the news more than I ever have in my life over the past three days,” Mann said, smiling. “I was just on YouTube TV watching the news in the locker room trying to get an update on what’s going on.”
The Clippers were on the road when the fires began. Kawhi Leonard left the team in Denver to return to his family and home in Pacific Palisades, one of the two biggest fires in the area.
“It was good to see that him and his family are doing good,” Mann said.
Some members of the Clippers organization had to evacuate their homes and others know people who lost theirs. Lakers coach JJ Redick said last week that the house he and his family are renting this season — along with most of their possessions — was completely destroyed by fire.
“People are still barely getting sleep,” Mann said. “Some guys lost power, some guys got family stuff to figure out, some peoples’ kids school burned down. There’s a lot going on. It’s way bigger than basketball.”
In Denver, Nicolas Batum said he checked his phone at halftime — something he never does — to see where the fires were burning. He got back to LA and rushed to pack boxes when he thought his family would have to flee.
Now, the Clippers are eager to return to their jobs and give their fans a break.
“We’ve been through the crazy stuff for the last five days,” Batum said. “I think maybe people need that to get their mind off of it for two, three hours.”
The Clippers and Lakers both have home games scheduled for Wednesday as well, with the Clippers taking on Brooklyn and the Lakers playing host to the Heat. ESPN was planning to broadcast the Lakers-Heat game; the network changed those plans on Sunday and put a game with Golden State visiting Minnesota on the national TV schedule in its place.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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