The Los Angeles Lakers played their first game since the wildfires forced postponements, facing the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena. While the atmosphere was subdued, the team honored former player Nick Van Exel's jersey retirement, offering a moment of respite and hope for the city battling the devastating fires.
A member of the Lakers wears a shirt thanking first responders battling the wildfires prior to a game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES — I don’t know what I expected, and maybe that’s the point. There isn’t a play you can draw up for people to process the pain and strain that wildfires have brought our way. The only way through is through, though.
So on Monday night, after the ongoing disaster had postponed games for both of L.A.’s NBA teams, they got back to business.in front of a crowd of 13,119 in Inglewood. And I had a seat up the road to watch the Lakers operate under the weight of a city at Crypto.com Arena, where they also went through with plans to, he had his No. 21 raised to the rafters. A real triumph for a world-class defender who grew up right there in the Altadena and Pasadena community where the Eaton Fire has caused so much destruction. But I’ll tell you, when I arrived at a lifeless L.A. Live a few hours before tipoff, I wondered whether his jersey retirement ceremony, so long coming, was happening too soon. Surely the date was tied to Pat Riley’s presence; Cooper’s coach with the Lakers and now the Heat’s team president is in town with his current team and was available to speak on Cooper’s legacy. Still, I wasn’t sure. But I’m glad Cooper had the floor Monday night of all nights, that he got to get on the mic in what he called a “bittersweet” moment to encourage people to donate to the Red Cross, to pray for our city and to proclaim with his whole chest: “We’re Angelenos, and we gonna build back better!” Likewise, I was sure we’d get a charged basketball atmosphere. That we’d feel the release of pent-up emotion and that Lakers coach JJ Redick would be exactly right when he talked pregame about what playing a game could mean for a city. whose rental house was among the 1,200 commercial and residential structures destroyed in the Palisades Fire . “And the way my players, my staff, the organization has supported and rallied around me, rallied around the city, loved on my family, there’s real strength in that. And that’s the sort of receiving of strength. Now it’s our job to go give strength, to give hope and joy.”But the game really did serve up a slice of normalcy. It felt basically like a January Monday against the Spurs. Like we were watching a team lose its third straight, its defense slipping, its turnovers mounting and its crowd – 18,737 fans, slightly shy of a sellout – starting to file out with more than four minutes left, the game not technically over but feeling like it.. After winning in Glendale, Arizona, where the NFC wild-card game had been moved on account of the fires, the Rams said again and again, they were playing for L.A. In L.A., the Lakers darkened the arena and asked for a moment of silence. And then Gabe Vincent – a relative newcomer without, say, LeBron James’ gravitas – “On behalf of my teammates and organization, our hearts go out to everyone that’s been affected,” Vincent said, wearing the same “Thank You First Responders” shirt all of his teammates were. “Shoutout to the first responders who are putting their lives on the line. It’s important at this time that we come together as a city, as a community, as a family and support those who are in need right now. Go Lakers.” The crowd was subdued in its response. Maybe because it would’ve felt weird to really cheer. Or maybe because Lakers crowds tend to warm up to the game as it gets going – or, in Monday’s case, until it went off the rails in the third quarter. Fans who had stayed in their seats to see Cooper honored at halftime made their delayed concession runs in the third quarter. And by the time they returned, the Spurs – who had been trailing by 11 early in the third quarter – had harnessed momentum and all but caught up, knocking the Lakers off their fragile axis.James – usually so reliable as a spokesman who will address serious, bigger-than-basketball issues – was headed to the locker room 10 seconds before the final buzzer, and he was out of the locker room before Anthony Davis was finished telling reporters about how his family has been affected.NBA postpones Saturday’s Lakers-Spurs, Clippers-Hornets games due to fires Redick stuck around on the court after the game, heading across the floor with Spurs stars Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul. The coach explained afterward that the fire took the entirety of his sons’ jersey and autograph collection, a compilation that’s starting anew with jerseys gifted by the Lakers’ Austin Reaves and, after Monday’s game, Wembanyama and Paul. “Chris called me this afternoon and said, ‘Vic and I are going – whether you win or we win – we’re going to go over and give the boys jerseys,’” said Redick, who has been candid about what he and his family are experiencing, which is so OK. Helpful, I thin
WILDFIRES NBA LAKERS NICK VAN EXEL JERSEY RETIREMENT SAN ANTONIO SPURS LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY HOPE
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