Most of the time, NBA teams do whatever they can to fight off distractions. Monday, the Lakers couldn’t have been more thrilled to have one.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis had to evacuate their homes. JJ Redick lost his. The rebuild hasn’t even begun, another round of winds keeping red-shaded swaths of the city on edge.
But Redick, one of the most public faces of these fires, knew this would be a chance to think about something else, temporary as that might be.
“I think a group functions best when you draw strength from each other. And the way my players, my staff, the organization has supported, rallied around me — rallied around the city, clearly — loved on my family, there’s real strength in that. And that’s the sort of receiving of strength. Then it’s our job to go give strength, and give hope and give joy,” Redick said pregame. “Sports are a lot of things and sports can certainly provide an escape and a distraction and hopefully sports, and tonight, can provide some joy as well.”
Through that lens, this was all a success — fans soaking in the moments where James and Davis tried to solve Victor Wembanyama’s 7-foot-3 frame after fires postponed the Lakers last two games.
The distraction from the outside world, the actual game, though, again exposed some of the Lakers’ issues inside the basketball one, a team again attacking them with more physicality and toughness, the Spurs deflating the crowd and surging to a 126-102 win, the Lakers’ third straight loss.
Read more: Lakers coach JJ Redick vows to help rebuild L.A. after losing home in fire
Davis and James combined to score 48 on 20-of-29 shooting, but the Lakers’ supporting cast struggled. Austin Reaves got targeted by the Spurs’ offense after they pulled Davis away from the rim. They pushed and shoved through Rui Hachimura and Max Christie.
And the Lakers offered little fight in return.
The loss came with their offense unraveling in the fourth quarter when the team scored only 13 points.
Trouble, though, came late in the third, the Lakers up 10 points before San Antonio blitzed them for 10 straight points without Redick or the bench calling a timeout.
In addition to their first game back after the wildfire postponements, the Lakers went ahead with a planned celebration for their past.
At halftime, the team retired Michael Cooper’s No. 21, the culminating achievement after Cooper’s career earned him a spot in the 2024 Basketball Hall of Fame class.
Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, Byron Scott and Pat Riley were among the former Lakers who were on hand for the ceremony.
Cooper had been a part of some their celebrations; this was his turn.
“I’ve always tried to play the game the right way. And it’s such a good feeling that people recognize that,” Cooper said. “Although I’ve always been on a team with a lot of mega stars, so sometimes I got overshadowed, but that didn’t bother me because it was about the body of work that we were putting together and winning championships. So for my turn to be, come to the plate and step up here and be on the podium by myself with everybody looking is very, very good. Because again, like I said, this came out of nowhere.”
That celebration was one of the final few feel-good moments of the night. But it wasn’t the last.
As Lakers players walked off the court deflated, Redick headed to midcourt where Wembanyama and Chris Paul gave Redick’s sons, Knox and Kai, their jerseys. The children lost a number of treasured pieces of memorabilia in the Palisades fire.
It was a reminder that Monday, back to basketball was still rocky. But at least it was back to something.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
