LOS ANGELES — A few hours before tip-off between the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, Chris Paul called JJ Redick.
The two started in the backcourt together for four years with the LA Clippers nearly a decade after competing against each other in the ACC (Redick as a Duke Blue Devil and Paul as a Wake Forest Demon Deacon). Redick and Paul bonded over their maniacal competitiveness, intricate routines and savant-like basketball IQs.
Paul called Redick to tip him off to a postgame surprise he had planned: Regardless of the result of the game — the first in nearly a week for the Lakers after two home games were postponed because of the ongoing Southern California wildfires — Paul and Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama were going to give their jerseys to Redick’s sons, Knox and Kai.
GO DEEPER
Lakers, Clippers resume at home as fires rage in L.A.
Both of Redick’s children are avid basketball fans who had amassed quite a collection of memorabilia, including jerseys and basketball cards. Redick said players would sign a jersey or card for his sons whenever he’d bring them on his Old Man and The Three podcast.
But with Redick’s house among those burned down in the Palisades fire, his sons no longer have those jerseys and cards — until Paul and Wembanyama gifted them signed game-worn jerseys following the contest.
CP3 & Wemby give their game-worn jerseys to JJ Redick’s two sons 🥹
What a SPECIAL moment 🤍 pic.twitter.com/RlgmgByfRB
— NBA (@NBA) January 14, 2025
“It was nice of them to do it,” Redick said. “They now each have two because Austin (Reaves) was nice enough to leave a couple for them in his locker after practice the other day. So I just, again, appreciate all the love. And I’m not surprised Chris did something like that.”
The gesture was a heartwarming end to an otherwise tough night for the Lakers, who fell 126-102 to the Spurs to drop to 20-17. Los Angeles has lost three straight games and four of its last six. The Lakers have trailed by 20-plus points in all three losses.
That outcome also partly spoiled Michael Cooper’s jersey retirement ceremony, which occurred during an extended halftime. With Magic Johnson, Pat Riley and James Worthy, among other former teammates and Showtime stalwarts, standing at halfcourt celebrating him, Cooper was honored among arguably the most impressive list of retired jerseys in league history.
There was no escaping the external circumstances of the evening. Outside the arena, the Lakers hosted a donation drive. Inside of it, they held a moment of silence before the game and had Gabe Vincent give a speech as players donned “Thank you first responders” warmup shirts. Even Cooper acknowledged the bittersweet nature of when he was receiving his ceremony.
But that’s all the more reason why Monday’s game was an important step for the Lakers, their fans and a grieving city in need of a return to normalcy.
“One thing we found out through the course of COVID is that sports kinda brings joy, back to people, even if it’s temporary,” Anthony Davis said. “And we were eager to play basketball again in front of our fans. Sucks that we weren’t able to get to win, not with just that, but then, Coop’s jersey retirement.
“But definitely a tough situation in LA, and we appreciate all of everyone’s support from around the world, around the country and other leagues and other teams. And the first responders, risking their lives to make sure that, everyone try to to be safe as possible. So, tough time, but we’re going to get through it together.”
The Lakers were clearly rusty — they hadn’t played in six days, with only one real practice and a couple of get-what-you-need days. Open shots hit the side of the backboard. Passes were thrown out of bounds or into Wembanyama’s baseball-mitt-sized hands. It never felt like there was a Lakers defender in the paint, Redick said.
They also were dealing with an incalculable emotional and mental toll. Several players, including Davis and LeBron James, had to evacuate their homes during the week. One player, Redick said, wasn’t able to make it to practice in El Segundo, Calif., while coming from Encino as the player was boxed in during an evacuation.
The Lakers never used these reasons as excuses for their poor second-half performance or the loss. But they didn’t need to. The week’s weight on the group had been clear since Reaves embraced Redick at practice last week.
That sobering reality made evaluating Monday’s result a bit trickier than a typical loss. It’s difficult to separate what was happening on the court from what has been happening off of it.
“I think I always try to give grace to myself, the staff or players,” Redick said. “Doesn’t mean you don’t critique and it doesn’t mean you don’t tell the truth. We’ve had for three games now, real slippage defensively. And we were the whatever it was 12, 13 games, a top-10 defense, trending in that direction until these last three games. We’ll review this game. There’s obviously some stuff from Dallas and Houston that probably is pertinent to this game as well.”
Every Laker had a different story to share. (James declined to speak after the game.)
The story of the greatest players in NBA history. In 100 riveting profiles, top basketball writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NBA in the process.
The story of the greatest plays in NBA history.
Buy
Redick went into great detail about losing his home, being displaced in a hotel, trying to teach his children life lessons and rebuilding his community.
Davis saw the fire from above the hill outside his backyard and had to evacuate his Bel-Air mansion, unsure if it would still be there when he returned.
He made it clear that he knows there is still a lot of work to be done — and he wants to find the right gesture for first responders and firefighters.
“The fight isn’t over,” Davis said. “We still have a lot to do, trying to, trying to do my part as far as helping families and communities who have been affected. … Actually just talking about getting a suite for a couple of games and bringing the first responders, all the firefighters, whoever, and bring them to a game, or, meeting them or, whatever the case may be. Just trying to, figure it all out and do my part as one of the leaders here in our community.”
Dorian Finney-Smith, who has been in Los Angeles for barely two weeks, had a first-hand look at the weather differences between California and New York (and his native Virginia).
“It’s been a crazy two weeks since I’ve been in L.A., man,” Finney-Smith said. “Just through everything that’s going on. Being in a hotel, so seeing all these families who are also there. So, it’s been eye-opening. Definitely eye-opening. Because I’m not from no fires or anything like that. So, just them telling me about what’s going on and it happens all the time, but not like this. So it was tough. A bunch of families in there.”
Rui Hachimura pointed to how chaotic and uncertain the group’s day-to-day schedule has been before clarifying that he wasn’t using that as an excuse for the loss.
“It’s been tough, of course,” Hachimura said. “Every day literally has a different schedule, different news. It really depends on this fire thing. We don’t know our schedule for the next day. We’re worried for our houses. Some of my teammates had to evacuate their house. It’s been a lot. It is what it is. We have to switch our gear. We can’t be sorry for this. … There’s a lot of distraction right now, a lot of things going on. But we just gotta focus on ourselves, and we’ve just gotta get back to our track.”
The Lakers will regroup over the next two days, with their next game on Wednesday against the Miami Heat. But the healing process for the team, its fans and its city is an ongoing process — and one that’ll take much longer.
“We come out and play — win, lose, draw, this game is over and everything’s still going on in the world,” Davis said. “So, bittersweet in a sense because we still have people who are dealing with real-life situations.”
Sign up to get The Bounce, the essential NBA newsletter from Zach Harper and The Athletic staff, delivered free to your inbox.
(Top photo of Victor Wembanyama hugging JJ Redick: Kiyoshi Mio / Imagn Images)
