The Los Angeles Lakers have had their last two games — Thursday against the Charlotte Hornets and Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs — postponed amid the wildfires ravaging various communities in L.A. The towns of Pacific Palisades and Altadena have been the hardest hit, as both places are virtually unrecognizable.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick was one of the hardest hit in the organization. He and his family lived in Pacific Palisades and lost their home — along with two decades worth of memories brought with them from Brooklyn — in the Palisades fire. Redick got emotional talking about the situation amid the two game postponements.
Another player who spoke about the situation around L.A. is guard Gabe Vincent. A Modesto, California native who attended UC Santa Barbara, Vincent has been around the community enough to know the type of damage wildfires can do, and he spoke about the heartbreak the city has faced over the last week.
“I’m a California native so, in some way, fires aren’t foreign to me. But to have them out here this way and how quickly they spread is startling, for sure. So flying and seeing a little bit of the aftermath, obviously it’s hard to see a little bit at night, but still seeing flames burning and seeing smoke go into the air, I didn’t sleep much that night. I stayed up heavily because I live close to that area.
“So I was pretty concerned and kind of ready to go at all times. I ended up evacuating just out of precaution and so we didn’t get caught in traffic. It was crazy to see coming in. It’s still crazy to see how it’s still burning and starting to move a little bit more. So hopefully we can contain it soon.”
With all that stress and anxiety surrounding the decision of whether or not to evacuate, it was certainly a nice moment to be around the team as they practiced on Friday.
“I think it was a little bit of relief to lay eyes on everybody and to touch up and to see everybody and to see some people within the organization, JJ included, who have had disaster strike their home. We reached out to them and pray for everybody else that is harmed by this. But for those that weren’t, to still be able to see them and put your hands and eyes on them that was a little bit reassuring.”
Vincent, like Redick, was open to the idea of playing through the fires, which is similar to why he was for the Bubble in Orlando during the pandemic.
“Yeah, I kind of see it a little bit similar to the bubble. You know what I mean? There was a lot going on and we as a league decided to go into that bubble to play. That kind of gave everyone something to turn their TV on something that wasn’t a disaster and wasn’t talking about how many more cases or negative events that were going on. It gave them a couple of hours to get through So I think it can be positive. I think some people can gain from it and be helpful for them. If it can help one person, that’s enough.”
And above that, Vincent sees basketball as an escape for himself and for many other people.
“Yeah, I think basketball serves that role for a number of guys around this league in different points in their lives. To be able to come and play this game and have a safe space to do that with everything going on is priceless.”
The Lakers will not play on Saturday night, but they may play on Monday. At that point, Vincent and the Lakers will have their chance to get through the heartbreak of the L.A. fires together, right alongside the community most affected.
Gabe Vincent discusses return from oblique injury
As with other teams in the association, the Lakers have been plagued by injuries. However, L.A. has been missing rotation pieces up to this point. One such player is Gabe Vincent, who was sidelined for four games due to an oblique injury.
With D’Angelo Russell being traded to the Brooklyn Nets, the purple and gold took a hit to their guard depth with Russell leaving and Vincent being injured. That meant more on-ball responsibilities for Austin Reaves and LeBron James, which can certainly be taxing. Vincent provides that ability to be a point-of-attack defender, in addition to being able to take the ball up the floor.
Thankfully, the veteran guard was able to make his return against the Dallas Mavericks. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disappointing showing all around, but it was clear Vincent had a bit of rust trying to get back into rhythm offensively. The 28-year-old guard shared that he is, in fact, still a bit sore as he continues to fully recover from that oblique injury.
