EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick confirmed he and his family lost their home in the Pacific Palisades fire that began Tuesday, fighting back tears at one point as he discussed the impact the situation has had on his family and community.
“I was not prepared,” Redick said at practice Friday, recalling driving to see his home and community on Wednesday morning. “I was not prepared for what I saw. It’s complete devastation and destruction. I had to go a kind of a different way to the house, but I went through most of the (Pacific Palisades) village and it’s all gone. And I don’t think you can ever prepare yourself for something like that. Our home is gone.”
The Lakers practice on Friday for the first time since they arrived back in Los Angeles around 2 a.m. PT after maintenance issues caused their flight out of Dallas to be delayed on Tuesday evening.
Thursday’s game between the Lakers and Charlotte Hornets was delayed due to the ongoing fires around Los Angeles. The Lakers are set to host the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday evening at Crypto.com Arena, but no official decision has been made as to whether the game will take place. Redick said he prepared his group at Friday’s practice as if they would play.
JJ Redick on potentially playing tomorrow vs. San Antonio: “I want to play tomorrow. I want to coach tomorrow. I want these guys to play tomorrow. And if we can play, we’ll play.” pic.twitter.com/UJWQXDj0wh
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) January 10, 2025
“We obviously are going to work with the NBA, the Spurs, the city and do what’s right,” Redick said. “I want to play tomorrow, I want to coach tomorrow. I want these guys to play tomorrow and if we can play, we’ll play.
“I do believe for everybody, for everybody that has been impacted by this, there is a grieving process. There’s a healing process. I can only speak for myself, part of my healing and grieving process is being here with these guys and coaching basketball.”
Redick, his wife, Chelsea, and their two sons, Knox and Kai, are currently staying in a hotel that they relocated to after evacuating on Tuesday. Redick said he found out about the fires ahead of the Lakers’ 118-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks and was scrambling to find his family a hotel. He spent Tuesday after the game on X — an app he said he hadn’t been on in months — to get updates on the fires.
Redick said the family lost everything that was “of any importance to us almost 20 years together as a couple and 10 years of parenting was in that house.”
“The material stuff is whatever,” Redick said. “I think my family and I were processing the self side, the individual side of losing your home. And you don’t ever want to wish that on anybody. It’s an awful feeling to lose your home.”
The hardest part of all for the Redicks was that they felt they had finally established a sense of community within the Pacific Palisades after previously having that sense of community in Brooklyn, New York, where they lived the past few years. The Palisades Recreation Center, in particular, was where his boys played basketball and they formed close bonds with neighboring families.
Tears filled Redick’s eyes as he discussed the topic.
“The rec center was like this, this place we were at every day,” Redick said. “I mean, flag football, basketball, the playground, baseball, tennis courts. Everyone we knew was there every day. And it just hurts to lose that.”
Redick shared that he had agreed to coach his two boys on a winter league team at the Palisades Recreation Center and would be able to make half of the practices and games around the Lakers’ schedule. The first practice was set for Wednesday afternoon.
“We had a lot of conversations over the last two days,” Redick said. “I think the kids are upset about a lot of things that they lost – Baby Fuddle Wuddle being one of them. A stuffie. They’re devastated about the rec center. … The thing that I’ve always talked with them about is valuing people over things. And that’s how I live my life and that’s how (Redick’s wife) Chelsea lives her life and that’s how our kids are being raised. I think this is a great opportunity for them to learn that and to just embrace it and love on people, which they’re doing today.”
Redick insisted that he and his family are going to be OK and that he wants to do all he can to help both the Pacific Palisades community and the greater Los Angeles community get through the tragedy and loss of this week.
“For our family, we’re as committed as ever to Los Angeles,” Redick said. “We recognize, like it’s not just our community that has been impacted by this. There’s people in Malibu, there’s people in Brentwood, there’s people up in the valley, there’s people in Pasadena … it’s all over L.A. And if there’s anything we can do to help and lead, we will. … We’re still figuring that out. It’s still pretty fresh, but we’re committed to helping other people as much as we can. And we’re going to do that. And we recognize that it’s going to be a long process. …
“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me and my family. We’re gonna be all right. We’re gonna be all right. There’s people that, um, you know, because of some political issues and some insurance issues are not going to be all right. And we’re going to do everything we can to help anybody who’s down and out because of this.”
Redick said the Lakers — including Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, his assistant coaches and his players — all reached out and have been remarkably supportive.
“The Lakers have been incredible,” Redick said. “I can go down the list, but whether it’s been (Rob Pelinka) or the Buss family, our associates, my coaching staff, the players, everybody has been incredible. And there’s been tangible things they’ve done to try to help us over the last few days and I’m just greatly appreciative of everyone that has helped.”
Redick hopes the Lakers can help the city grieve and process the tragedy as they rebuild and try to move forward.
“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.”
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(Photo: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
