Kawhi Leonard is one of many in the Clippers organization who has been affected by the wildfires across Los Angeles County. (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)
At 5 a.m. Wednesday, Clippers forward Nicolas Batum got word that his family would need to evacuate their Tarzana home because the Palisades fire had shifted that direction. Batum was with the Clippers in Denver for a game that night, but had been constantly checking his phone and talking to his wife and two children.
Playing the Nuggets was the last thing on his mind at the time. He only thought about the safety of his family and those affected by the devastating fires across Los Angeles County.
“I wanted to come home,” Batum said after practice Sunday. “But I was told my family was going to be OK. For now, we’re fortunate to be safe. … I hope it will stay like that.”
His teammate, Kawhi Leonard, on the other hand, returned to his Pacific Palisades home Tuesday to be with his family.
Since so many people lost their homes in the Pacific Palisades area, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was asked if there was any update on Leonard’s home.
“You have to talk to him about that,” Lue said.
Read more: Live updates: L.A. area wildfire threat persists as increasing winds expected this week
Lue did say that Leonard “has been good. Tough situation for him, the things he got to go through with his family and his house situation. We’re here to support him, not only Kawhi but anybody in the community that we need to help. We will help and support.”
Leonard was at practice Sunday, but he was not one of the players the Clippers made available during media access.
Lue said other members of the Clippers’ support staff and organization were affected by the fires.
“I know Kawhi had left the team for that [Denver] game to check on his situation,” teammate Terance Mann said. “But we didn’t really hear from him. So, it’s good to see that him and his family are doing good.”
After the NBA postponed the Clippers game against Charlotte on Saturday night because of the wildfires, L.A. is still scheduled to face the Miami Heat on Monday night at the Intuit Dome.
Lue said it was “above my pay grade” on whether or not the Clippers should play the game against the Heat.
“I think the NBA, they have a good handle on things, what’s going on and what we need to do,” Lue said. “So, when they make a decision, we’re all in. They know we are going through a tough time right now, the state of California. They understand that, and so, hopefully we can bring some kind of joy when the game comes back tomorrow, some togetherness, try to put some smiles on people’s faces in tough times.”
Read more: Lakers and Clippers games for Saturday postponed because of L.A. fires
The Clippers, who had lost four of their last five games, haven’t played since Wednesday in Denver.
“At the end, we’re pros,” Batum said. “We have a game to play. We have to win so we have to get back to it. We had two great practices the last two days. Basketball-side, we lost four of the last five so we need a win tomorrow. We got a stretch at home that we need to take care of so it’s going to be a big one against Miami tomorrow so we got to focus on that and try to win the game.”
Lue said the Clippers plan on doing their part to help the community.
Mann said he will do his part as well.
“I just want to give a lot of clothes, some money, shoes, just whatever I can,” Mann said. “Whatever people need help with, I’m going to look to do right now. I actually just texted my people. They are going to meet, we’re going to go to one of my storage units, grab a bunch of stuff and go somewhere.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.