SAN ANTONIO — JJ Redick’s phone buzzed during the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaches meeting Wednesday in San Antonio, just as the staff began trying to figure out a way to beat a conference rival on the second night of a back- to-back.
Redick knew the anniversary was near. But he didn’t know it was that date until he read his wife, Chelsea’s, Instagram post and all of the emotions flooded back. Tears filled his eyes.
“Sorry, guys,” he told his staff.
A year ago, the Lakers were in Dallas when Redick woke up from a pregame nap to learn that his family would be evacuating the house they rented in the Pacific Palisades, a community they planned to make their permanent Los Angeles home. A fire that began in the Santa Monica Mountains sprinted through dried-out vegetation pushed by dangerous winds. By nightfall, it devoured nearly an entire community, including the home in which Redick, his wife and two children were living. Another fire in the nearby San Gabriel Mountains did the same in Altadena. In total, at least 31 people died. An estimated 13,000 homes were destroyed.
In the 12 months since, Redick and his family bounced from hotels to short-term rentals and then back again to hotels. He and his family have vowed to rebuild the Palisades Recreation Center, where his sons once played youth sports. That effort continues this week with the foundation Redick co-founded, LA Sports Strong, hosting its largest fundraiser to date on Thursday.
Following the Lakers’ loss to the San Antonio Spurs on the first anniversary of the fires, Redick told The Athletic that the impact of the fire on his family and friends still lingers — and has even brought to light again the characteristics in the people he loves most.
“Sometimes you have to be reminded by the resilience of people,” Redick said. “We’re having a big event (Thursday). It’s our first real large fundraising event for the rebuild of the rec center. We’re making a lot of headway. And seeing families that have relocated multiple times over the last year — we had to as well — we were in a hotel for five and a half to 10 months before we ended up getting settled. … I told Chelsea today … I’m proud of her, and I’m proud of the kids, and I’m proud of all our friends.
“It’s been a lot for a year.”
Redick and his family recently moved into a new home. Many of his friends and neighbors have not.
As he reflected on the past year, Redick didn’t revisit the horrific drive through the Palisades the morning after the fire, the difficult trip back with a reporter or the grief-filled nights inside hotel lobbies with friends who had lost everything. Instead, he spoke with some level of gratitude for his loved ones and their resilience through a defining period in their lives.
“The first 10 days, you’re devastated,” he said. “You’re in shock, and you’re just trying to function in some ways.”
In some ways, Redick’s family was fortunate. He said his sons’ school wasn’t impacted by the fires, so they had some sense of normalcy. His job, too, created an escape. But the devastation landed hardest at home — particularly for his wife.
“I think for a long time, Chelsea, she wore it the hardest. And she’s a mom, and what do moms want? They want to nest. They want to have a bed for their kids, and they want to have stuff up on the walls that show that this is where we live and this is where our family plays Rummikub together and watches stupid Netflix kid shows together. Like the disruption of that.”
Nearly all of their personal belongings, and the routines that had given the family comfort, were lost in the fires.
“It didn’t really get normal again for a long time,” Redick said. “And I think a lot of people are still going through that. And that was the angst that we felt as a family. I know my boys felt it for months and months after. And it wasn’t until we felt settled again. And even that took two to three weeks of, ‘Oh, OK, we can actually turn off that valve of anxiety that we’ve had for the last 10 months.’”
In the immediate aftermath of the fires, Redick became one of the public faces of the tragedy. He spoke emotionally about the rec center and the bonds he formed in the Palisades following the Lakers’ first practice back after the fires. He was raw, and he promised to try to be a part of solutions.
A year later, he remembered that sentiment.
“I talked about our family. We were, we’re gonna be fine,” he remembered. “We were gonna go through the very specific challenges that our family was gonna face. And that was devastating and sad. And was emotional.
“I think the harder part, and it still is, it’s like that sense of loss of community. … We still feel that. And all the people that we hung out with in Palisades, we still hang out with them all the time, but they’re just not in the Palisades.”
Stories like this, tied to the anniversary, remember the devastation. For Redick, the reminders are constant.
“There are certainly stories like us. Like, now we’re settled. But I know so many people that aren’t still settled,” Redick said. “And it’s just amazing to see their … spirit and hope and optimism. We all have bad days, but the resiliency really just stuck out to me about everyone in that community.”
