Lakers' Redick loses home; Kerr: Fires 'surreal'

The NBA postponed Thursday’s game in Los Angeles between the Hornets and Lakers because of the massive wildfires that have claimed over 5,300 structures in the area, including the home of Lakers coach JJ Redick.

Sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that Redick’s rental home in Pacific Palisades was one of the structures lost in the biggest of multiple fires raging across the Los Angeles metropolitan area this week.

Redick acknowledged the threat to his home Tuesday before the Lakers’ game against the Mavericks in Dallas, saying that members of his family were among those forced to evacuate homes in the area.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr, meanwhile, lost his childhood home in Palisades. Kerr said Thursday his 90-year-old mother, Ann, evacuated and is safe.

Thursday marked the second straight day that a game slated to be played in downtown Los Angeles has been postponed. The NHL’s Los Angeles Kings were scheduled to host the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.

The NFL on Thursday also moved Monday’s NFC wild-card playoff game between the host Rams and the Vikings from Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

“We’re heartbroken for Los Angeles,” the Lakers said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with all those impacted by this unimaginable situation. And our gratitude is with the first responders and all of you who come together when we need each other the most. Tonight’s game will be rescheduled to focus on what matters most today.”

The NBA had not announced a makeup date for the Hornets-Lakers game as of Thursday afternoon.

“The entire NBA family sends its thoughts and support to the community of Los Angeles during this challenging time,” the league said in a statement. “We are grateful for the thousands of local firefighters and first responders who have demonstrated enormous bravery. Our prayers remain with those affected by the unimaginable devastation caused by the wildfires.”

Multiple major fires were burning in areas of the vast Los Angeles metroplex following two days of extraordinary winds. A major threat broke out Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills, close to the heart of the entertainment industry, but had been contained by Thursday morning.

Roughly 180,000 people are under evacuation orders, and the fires have consumed about 45 square miles — roughly the size of San Francisco. The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles history, with 5,316 structures destroyed as of Thursday afternoon.

Kerr said Palisades High School, which now is Palisades Charter High School, is “gone.”

“That’s my hometown,” Kerr said before the Warriors’ 107-104 victory against Detroit on Thursday night. “And all my friends who are from there, pretty much, they’ve all lost their homes, their family homes, childhood homes, our whole high school’s gone. The town looks like it’s just been completely wiped out. It’s surreal and devastating, but fortunately, most, almost everyone escaped.

“The pictures reminded me of Lahaina [fire in Maui] from a couple of years ago, and so I’m so happy that there wasn’t a loss of life that people in Hawai’i experienced. But it’s hard to even fathom how Pacific Palisades rebuilds and how it becomes a thriving community again. It’s just shocking.”

Kerr got a little emotional reflecting on his hometown. He said his mother tried to save as many things as she could — photos and paintings — before leaving the home that the family bought in 1969.

“I was just there two weeks ago for dinner,” Kerr said. “The night before our game, we just celebrated my mom’s 90th birthday there. This past summer we had a hundred guests up on that hillside and a beautiful night, great memories, and it’s an idyllic place. It’s a beautiful town, sunsets every night, just amazing memories. And my dad taught at UCLA, and so that drive from Pacific Palisades down Sunset Boulevard to the campus at UCLA is what I’ve made a million times, and so many great memories. And then to see the images of Sunset Boulevard in the Palisades, just shocking. It looks like apocalyptic and devastating.

“… It’s the lifetime of memories, occasions and birthday parties and everything else. And to just see the destruction, the devastation, is just unfathomable.”

Kerr said Everett Dayton, a team video coordinator, has a home in Los Angeles that is “somewhat intact, by a miracle.” He said Draymond Green‘s home in Los Angeles is also fine for now.

Clippers star Kawhi Leonard left the team in Denver on Wednesday to head back to Los Angeles after his family was evacuated.

Wind gusts were expected to strengthen Thursday evening through Friday morning, with yet another round of strong winds expected next week, raising concerns that the conditions could worsen, the National Weather Service said.

Fire officials said Thursday that they don’t yet know the cause of the fires but are actively investigating.

ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk and The Associated Press contributed to this report.