Lakers coach gutted over ‘devastation and destruction’ caused by fires
He knew the house he was renting in the Pacific Palisades was destroyed in the devastating wildfires that have engulfed the Los Angeles area. But he needed to see the damage firsthand.
“I was not prepared for what I saw,” Redick told reporters Friday. “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. And look, we were renting for the year to try to figure out where we wanted to be long term. And everything we owned that was of any importance to us almost 20 years together as a couple and 10 years of parenting was in that house.
“And there’s certain things that you can’t replace, that will never be replaced. And it’s like weird. My son did an art project last year at St. Anne’s in Brooklyn. And it was like a charcoal pencil painting of a lighthouse that we had framed above the stairs. And you can’t ever replace stuff like that. You know, memories. Eighteen years together now, Chelsea and I, certain things that were in that house that you can’t replace.”
The NBA postponed the Lakers’ game Thursday against Charlotte, and on Friday, the league announced it postponed Saturday’s San Antonio Spurs-Los Angeles Lakers game in Los Angeles and the Charlotte Hornets-Los Angeles Clippers game in Inglewood, California, “due to the ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area.’
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The Lakers practiced Friday and Redick met with reporters.
Redick said his wife, Chelsea, was apprehensive to leave Brooklyn for Southern California and an NBA coaching job.
“She said to me, ‘I was very hesitant to move out here. I was very hesitant for you to go into coaching. I’ve never loved living somewhere more than I’ve loved Brooklyn, and I’ve never loved the community more than I love the community I’ve had in Brooklyn. And then, you know, it’s like, we move out here and 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 going to rebuild, and we want to help lead on that. But all the churches, the schools, the library, like it’s all gone.”
Redick divulged that he had planned to help coach his sons’ youth basketball team this winter and the Palisades Recreation Center was burned.
Multiple Lakers’ employees have been impacted by the wildfires. Redick said the team’s chief legal counsel, Dan Grigsby, lost his home, and the parents of the team’s videographer lost their home.
“We certainly want to do everything we can within the safety parameters of what’s going on in the city,” Redick said. “We obviously want to give people hope and we want to give … I don’t want to say a distraction, maybe an escape.
“We talked about it as a group before practice. It is our responsibility, everybody in this building, to lead on this and to help people. You never know what that’s going to look like. I think between myself, (executive vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka), I know the Buss family – Jeanie specifically – we’re prepared to do whatever it takes to help Los Angeles.”
