On Monday night, the Los Angeles Lakers returned to their home court after having two consecutive games postponed due to the tragic wildfires in Southern California. Anthony Davis picked right back up where he left off, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough as the Lakers fell to the San Antonio Spurs.
It was an unfortunate end result, especially with the Lakers also raising franchise legend Michael Cooper’s jersey to the rafters. But Davis and the Lakers were ultimately happy to get back on the court and try to bring a little joy to the city of Los Angeles in these tough times.
“Yeah, I mean it’s a tragedy,” Davis said after the game. “I mean seeing it from the news and social media. Being somewhat a part of it and having to be evacuated because the fires are right there. Obviously, being close to it, JJ [Redick] and Rohan [Ali], other people within the organization, obviously a tough time for our city. One thing we found out through the course of COVID is that sports kind of brings joy back to people. We were eager to play basketball again in front of our fans.
“It sucks that we weren’t able to get the win, but not just a bad or good game, with Coop’s [Michael Cooper] jersey retirement, but definitely a tough situation in LA. We appreciate everyone’s support from around the world, the country, other leagues and other teams. The first responders are risking their lives to make sure that everyone tries to be as safe as possible. So it’s a tough time, but we’re going to get through it together.”
When things started the Lakers were still in Dallas so they witnessed some of the fires as they flew back in town. Davis admitted that it’s been tough seeing how many people have been affected by this tragedy, but will continue to try and do everything he can to help the city rebuild.
In fact, Davis revealed that he is planning on inviting first responders to an upcoming game.
“We were in Dallas, and everything just kind of started happening,” Davis added. “Obviously, I got kids and a wife. They start freaking out. When you get home, you kind of see everything flying in. The first thing I heard about was JJ [Redick]’s house and my wife started telling me about some of my daughter’s classmates and their families losing homes. My daughter, where she goes to ride horses, is gone. Some of my son’s classmate’s houses are gone. Started to get tough, started to get emotional. Then as we start to see, as the day went on, more and more things happening, more and more fires happening to the point where now it is getting close to you and now you have to evacuate your home.
“It’s just a lot, but I’m just trying to get through it, and it feels good to be on the floor and just bring joy back to everyone who was here. You kind of get away from it for two and a half hours, but the fire isn’t over. We still have a lot to do. Trying to do my part as far as helping families and the communities who have been affected and trying to give donations. I was actually talking about getting a suite for a couple games to bring the first responders, the firefighters to a game, where we’re meeting them or whatever the case may be. So, trying to figure it all out and do my part as one of the leaders here.”
Davis has not only grown as a leader for the Lakers team, but also as one in this community and his efforts have not gone unnoticed. Something like this also forces the Lakers team to grow closer and Davis feels they are doing that, while also continuing to try and help the city as a whole.
“We was able to get away. But then, you lean on your family, outside of your family, like your family, you get the chance to practice and be around each other, and kind of the first time we seen JJ, just put our arms around him and kind of help him out with everything that was going on,” Davis said. “But, yeah, I mean, I’ve been thinking about that a lot. We come out and play, win, lose, draw. The game is over, and everything’s still going on in the world. So kind of like bittersweet, in a sense, because we still have people who are dealing with real-life situations.
“We get to go out here and play basketball. So it’s kind of tough. Obviously, we still have a job to do, and at some point, we’re going to have to play basketball again. Go back to work. But we try to, obviously, get this win. We never want to lose. But with the [Los Angeles] Rams winning, and us trying to get the win and bring a little bit of joy to the city for a little bit.”
Anthony Davis top donator for Lakers’ videographer Rohan Ali’s GoFundMe
As Anthony Davis mentioned, there are some within the Lakers organization who have been affected by these wildfires and one of those was videographer Rohan Ali whose parents lost their Altadena home which Ali grew up in. A GoFundMe was started and the top donator to that cause is none other than Davis.
He donated $20,000 to the GoFundMe while teammate Jarred Vanderbilt also donated $4,000, further showing how the Lakers organization is truly a family.
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