The Southern California wildfires have affected many throughout the area, and the Los Angeles Lakers have many within the family who have lost their homes. Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick and his family lost their home in Pacific Palisades, but another member of the organization, videographer Rohan Ali, also lost his childhood home.
Ali has been covering the Lakers for nearly 10 years, and his parents, Rasheed and Gayle Ali lost their home in Altadena, where Rohan grew up. As such, Ali started a GoFundMe to help his parents in the rebuilding efforts, and he has already received some significant contributions from a couple of Lakers players.
The two biggest donations to Ali’s GoFundMe have come from Lakers superstar Anthony Davis, who donated $20,000, and forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who donated $4,000, via Daman Rangoola:
Top 2 donations https://t.co/mFbvQslObk pic.twitter.com/IhSvs1mJek
— Daman Rangoola (@damanr) January 10, 2025
The Lakers have always prided themselves on being not just a sports franchise but a family, and things like this show exactly what they mean. Neither Davis nor Vanderbilt were required to help out Ali in these relief efforts, but they did so because the Lakers are a family, and one of their own was in need.
Many talk about helping out, but Davis and Vanderbilt put their money where their mouth was, and there is no doubt that the entire Ali family is extremely grateful for their donations. This is more than just about money, but really shows the character of Davis and Vanderbilt and their willingness to contribute in these dark times.
Thousands of people have been displaced due to these fires with homes, schools, businesses and many other buildings lost throughout the area. It won’t be a quick or easy road to rebuild the community, but efforts like this show that many are committed to helping out individual efforts and big-picture relief campaigns.
Lakers, L.A. sports teams partner with Fanatics on “L.A. Strong” fire relief campaign
The Lakers and every other sports team in the Los Angeles area have partnered with Fanatics on the “L.A. Strong” fire relief campaign. Sixteen shirts will feature the “L.A. Strong” logo along with the logo of the sports team, with 100% of the profits being donated to the American Red Cross and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.
It is a beautiful effort by all of the sports franchises to come together and help build back up the community that has been lost to these tragic fires.
