Kawhi Leonard, Clippers resume practice amid wildfires in Los Angeles

INGLEWOOD, CA – The Los Angeles Clippers he returned to training this weekend in the middle ongoing fires in Los Angeles. Kawhi Leonardwho did not play in the Clippers’ final game on Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets, returned home to with his family who evacuated from the Pacific Palisades area.

According to TMZ, Leonard’s home was not among those destroyed in the wreckage caused by the Palisades fire.

Kawhi Leonard, Clippers resume practice amid wildfires in Los Angeles

The Clippers were originally scheduled to play the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night, but the fires in Los Angeles worsened as the weekend approached, prompting the NBA to postpone both the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the San Antonio Spurs and the Clippers’ home game. against the Hornets.

“It was difficult, difficult for our city, a difficult situation for all families involved, for friends, neighbors,” said the head coach of the Clippers. “It’s been hard, dealing with it every day, just hearing about people you know is dealing with things — evacuations, losing homes, and this is a difficult time for all of us.” We’ve just been trying to practice these last few days, just try to clear our minds as much as we can. But we know it’s a tough situation, tough times for a lot of the guys involved, and we’re just trying to get through it the best way we can.”

Los Angeles saw the Pacific Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Kennett Fire, and Hurst wipe out thousands of structures. Kawhi Leonard and his family evacuated their Palisades home, and a number of other Clippers employees were also forced to evacuate due to the fire threat.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved and we just hope we can get through this,” Lue added. “The first responders, the firefighters did a great job putting their lives on the line to make sure everyone was safe and did the best they could.” So we really appreciate them too.”

Kawhi Leonard attended practice Sunday afternoon but was not available to the media. He was not listed on the Clippers’ recent injury report for Saturday’s game against the Hornets before it was postponed.

In the last game against the Denver Nuggets, the Clippers lost 126-103 and trailed by as many as 29 points in the game. From start to finish, the team looked like a team that was not focused on the game. And although the players said after the game that was no excuse for their performance, Sunday offered a different perspective.

“That game in Denver was weird,” Nicolas Batum said to a group of journalists Sunday. “I was on the phone with my family all day. I didn’t sleep that night either. You don’t know what’s going to happen if the fire gets to you. I think I slept two hours the night before.”

“I think I dropped my phone three minutes before the game.” I checked my phone at halftime. I never do that, but at halftime I checked to see if my wife and kid were okay. But it was a strange time.”

Terence Mann also admitted that it was incredibly difficult to focus on the game.

“Yes. To be honest, yes. I won’t lie.

“People are still barely sleeping. Some guys have lost power, some have family matters to think about, some have had their children’s schools burn down. There’s a lot going on, so it’s bigger than basketball now. Much bigger than basketball.”

On Sunday afternoon, the NBA notified the Clippers, Lakers, Spurs and Heat that Monday’s games scheduled for 7:30 PM PST in Los Angeles will be played as scheduled. After a total of three games have been postponed, the Clippers say it’s hard for them to focus on basketball, but they can also see how it helps the community take their attention away from the surrounding tragedies.

“I think we need that at some point,” Batum said. “We’ve been through some crazy stuff the last five days. I mean, maybe, people need to get away from it for two, two, three hours just to play basketball, sports. Still, I think people might need it.”

“It’s not easy,” Mann added of playing through the Los Angeles fires. “Normally, the day before a game, I would go home and relax, put my feet up and focus on the game. But right now, I’m going to help people and donate and drive around and do what I can to help. It’s not easy, but it is what it is. I’ve watched more news than I ever have in my life in the last three days. I was actually just on YouTube TV watching the news in the locker room, just trying to catch up on what was going on. That’s the most I’ve ever done.”

There is still much work and restoration to be done, especially in the Palisades and Altadena communities. The Lakers have announced that they will be hosting donation in their upcoming matches. Tyronn Lue said the Clippers have something planned, but were not ready to announce it at the time the Clippers were available to the media.