Members of the NBA community are rallying around JJ Redick and his family after the Lakers coach lost his rented home in the catastrophic California wildfires earlier this month.
Shortly after the Spurs’ 126-102 road win against the Lakers on Monday at Crypto.com Arena, San Antonio stars Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul gave their game jerseys to Redick’s sons, Knox and Kai, something that deeply touched the first-year coach.
“When you’ve been in the league long enough, you have this big circle, and it’s people you like, people you love and then it’s your brothers — and Chris is in that inner-inner circle of brothers,” said Redick, who played alongside Paul with the Clippers.
Mindful that Redick’s sons lost their basketball memorabilia in the blaze, Paul phoned his former teammate ahead of Monday’s contest and relayed his and Wembanyama’s postgame plan.
“He called me this afternoon and said, ‘Vic and I are going to go, whether you win or we win, we’re going to go over and give the boys jerseys,’” Redick, 40 recalled.
Cameras captured the moment Paul, 39, and Wembanyama, 21, walked over to the courtside seats occupied by Redick’s two young sons, who then received signed jerseys from San Antonio’s finest.
The foursome then posed for photos as Redick’s sons held up their new gifts.
Prior to being named coach of the Lakers in 2024, Redick — a 15-year veteran who also served as an ESPN analyst — cohosted the “The Old Man and the Three” and “Mind the Game” podcasts, with the coach noting his sons grew their basketball memorabilia collection due to the frequency of guests at the Redick residence.
“They’re huge NBA fans. All their basketball cards — I ran a podcast out of my home for two years, all the players would come through and they get either a jersey or a card signed. They had a collection of jerseys or cards, lost all that, so, and it was nice of them to do it,” Redick said postgame, according to Yahoo Sports.
Redick, whose Lakers are currently 20-17, also divulged that guard Austin Reaves left jerseys for the coach’s sons.
Redick and his family were ordered to evacuate as the fire engulfed parts of the Los Angeles area, notably his Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
The former NBA journeyman told reporters last week he “was not prepared” for the devastating aftermath.
“It’s complete devastation and destruction. I had to go kind of a different way to the house, but I went through most of the village and it’s all gone. I don’t think you can ever prepare yourself for something like that,” Redick said.
He also elaborated on the irreplaceable materials lost in the ruins.
“There’s certain things that you can’t replace, that will never be replaced. It’s weird s–t, like my son did an art project last year at St. Ann’s in Brooklyn, it was a charcoal pencil painting of a lighthouse that we had framed above the stairs. You can’t ever replace stuff like that. Memories, 18 years together now [wife] Chelsea and I, there were certain things that were in that house that you can’t replace. The material stuff is whatever,” Redick said.
The NBA postponed games due to the fires that ravaged Southern California, which left 200,000 people displaced and at least 24 people dead as of Tuesday.
