So Shines a Good Deed In a Weary World.
Tough week out here
Thanks for reading.
On Monday night in Los Angeles, the Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs. It was understandable. The Lakers hadn’t played in almost a week because of the fires, and they had nothing left after running up and down the floor for, basically, two quarters or so. They gave up 73 points in the second half and lost by 24.
After, two of the Spurs’ players, Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama, stopped over near the Lakers’ bench and gave their game jerseys to a couple of kids. These boys were the young sons of JJ Redick, the Lakers’ coach. That’s not uncommon; guys in the league (any league) almost constantly sign gear for teammates, rivals, friends and family. It is professional courtesy.
Redick’s sons, Knox and Kai — they were stoked. They’d have known right where to put those jerseys, because they had one serious collection of NBA memorabilia going: uniforms, cards, shoes, the works. The fact that their dad had played in the league for years, and now coached in it, was one of those amazing perks of being born into a certain family in a certain part of the world. Lucky.
They’d have taken those uniforms home Monday night.
They went back to the hotel instead.
The home that the Redicks were renting was lost in the Palisades fire. There were lots of fires, still are, and destruction seemingly out every window. But the Palisades fire — picture a massive wall of water blasting its way down a river or a canyon, driven by hurricane winds, exploding out of control in its sheer force, flattening landscapes and houses and drenching and flooding everything in sight. Now replace water with fire.
The Palisades inferno erased a community from existence. There is no there there.
“We were renting for the year to try to figure out where we wanted to be long-term,” said Redick, who only got the Lakers’ gig this season. “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. There’s certain things that you can’t replace — that will never be replaced.
“I went through most of the village, and it’s all gone,” Redick said. “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, it’s all gone.”
The boys’ memorabilia collection was in that rental house, like everything else they associate with their lives. The Redick family has the money to push forward; not everyone in the Palisades does. One of the underreported facts out of that particular fire is the number of regular old apartments and affordable housing units that were obliterated, but of course that doesn’t fit the narrative of rich people losing their homes because they chose to live on a rich hillside.
Chris Paul has known Redick and his family forever; Wembanyama is newer to the game. But they both understand what it’s like for a kid to get torn away from his moorings. Those two players will be wearing new uniforms next game anyway; they work in an industry that can replace everyday things forever and never even notice the cost. That’s not the same as saying that what they did was nothing special.
Paul said this: “It hits different when the people are close to you.” We all know that’s true. Kind of wish it didn’t have to be.