LOS ANGELES — LeBron James said he has been "off" and emotional since the fallout of the deadly Los Angeles wildfires, which have raged for more than a week around the L.A. area.
In his first news conference since the fires started, James shared Wednesday night that he had close friends who lost their homes and that he and his family — including his wife, three children and mother — all had to evacuate from their Brentwood, Calif., home Thursday.
"There's been a lot of emotions," James said. "I have a couple of dear friends that have lost their homes in the Palisades. Obviously, my heart goes out to all of the families, all across not only the (Pacific) Palisades, but all across L.A. County and all the surrounding areas because of the fire and things of that nature. It's been a lot of emotions.
"Per sonally, I've been off," he continued. "Personally, my family, we've been evacuated since Thursday night, so I've been in a hotel since pretty much when we got back from Dallas. So, just figuring it out. But staying strong for one another. Obviously, that's most important."
James spoke after the Lakers' 117-108 comeback win over the Miami Heat. The 40-year-old posted 22 points, five rebounds and nine assists, including scoring seven straight points to ice the game late in the fourth quarter.
The James family has experience with evacuations. They evacuated on Oct. 28, 2019, due to brush fires near the Getty Center. James live-tweeted the evacuation, which occurred after 3 a.m. PT.
"We had that experience and was able to lean on that a little bit," James said. "The difference between '19 and today, the one in '19 was in the middle of the night so we had to get going right away. We had a little bit more time before we had to evacuate, so we were able to get some things, get some belongings or whatever the case may be, get some things that meant things to us.
"But our home has definitely not been touched since the moment we left, but it's still standing and we're grateful for that. Hopefully, it continues to stand. Just waiting patiently when we'll be granted to possibly go back to it and be as one under our home."
The focus, for the time being, is helping his friends who lost their homes heal and rebuild their lives, he said.
"Our friends that lost their homes, just being there for them," James said. "It's very challenging, especially when you got kids and you lose your home and all their belongings and my friends got wives — it's a lot to try to wrap your head around it. I'm very happy that my family is safe."
James acknowledged the responsibility on him and his tea mmates to put the real-world implications of the fire to the side, at least temporarily, and give Lakers fans and the city of Los Angeles an escape. He said the win over the Heat was a step in the right direction in that regard.
"It's definitely our job to know that we still have a job to do," James said. "We got to focus on our job but also still be human beings and understanding what real life is all about, too. I hope that by us going on the floor and (by) us playing the way we played tonight — not the way we played against San Antonio — but the way we played tonight and hopefully the next few months or whatever it is, years, until the city is back up, that we as a Lakers franchise and the players that are playing for the Lakers give a sense of hope and pride and excitement and things of that nature.
"Sports has always given people an opportunity to kind of just temporarily forget about whatever they may have been going through. And us being such a big p art of the L.A. community — along with a lot of other sports teams, but we know how important the Lakers is to the community — hopefully we can provide that to a lot of families."
Lakers coach JJ Redick said Monday before the loss to the Spurs that James has been among the most vocal leaders during the uncertainty.
"He's definitely one of the more vocal guys. … LeBron stepped up along with a couple of other guys and the coaches," Redick said at the time. "We're trying to galvanize the group, so LeBron's always there to do that."
The 22-year veteran is averaging 23.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 8.8 assists on 51.1/39.4/75.8 shooting splits this season. He's played in 35 of the Lakers' 38 games.
(Photo: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)
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