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Dave McMenamin
ONE YEAR LATER, it all seemed so familiar for JJ Redick. A Los Angeles Lakers road loss in Texas in January. Images on his cell phone he couldn’t shake. A flight back home, arriving in the dead of the night.
On Jan. 8, 2025, Redick and the Lakers had returned from Dallas to find parts of Southern California engulfed in flames. Wildfires had destroyed nearly 60,000 acres of land, incinerating countless houses and businesses, decimating neighborhoods in Altadena, Malibu and the Pacific Palisades, where the new Lakers coach and his family had called home.
On Jan. 8, 2026, Redick and the Lakers returned from San Antonio to find Southern California still recovering from the ruin. «When I got back that night, it was literally 365 days later,» Redick told ESPN. «I’m going up the 405 [Freeway], and when we lived in the Palisades, I banged that left going on 10-W and go to the Palisades.
«And as I’m driving past the 10, I’m like, ‘F—, dude.’ It just kind of hit me.»
His emotions had bubbled to the surface in San Antonio, where he received texts from friends and well-wishers checking in on the anniversary of when his rental home by the Via Del Paz bluffs had burned to the ground.
Austin Reaves had a message for his coach, too.
«He came over to me and was like, ‘Hey, I left something in my locker for Knox and Kai.’ And it was personalized, signed jerseys for them.»
Reaves, whom Redick’s children call «Uncle A,» knew about Knox and Kai’s memorabilia collection and how much they cherished it.
«I get to rebound for him before games, and he always lets me shoot a 3 when he’s done,» Knox said of Reaves. «He is someone I look up to.»
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The lost memorabilia was full of what collectors refer to as «grails.» There was a Luka Doncic Mavs jersey personally autographed to Knox that Doncic — at that point, his dad’s former teammate — presented him at a Dallas-Brooklyn Nets game when they lived in New York and Redick was beginning his media career.
There was a Stephen Curry jersey personally autographed to Kai that Redick had Curry sign after a podcast taping. In all, Redick estimates his boys had eight to 10 jerseys apiece, plus countless basketball cards that they had bought with money saved up from birthday gifts and earned from chores. All of it was gone.
What Reaves started, a couple of Spurs — Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama — continued.
When the Lakers’ season resumed Jan. 13, the pair presented Knox and Kai their game-worn jerseys on the court after the final buzzer.
«Chris just gets it,» Redick said of his former L.A. Clippers backcourt mate. «We had a weird relationship in college and early on in the NBA. We didn’t like each other. Then, we became teammates. And we realized we had a ton in common. And I love that guy. And it meant a lot. And I’m not surprised that Vic participated in that gift, as well, because he’s one of the best human beings I’ve met.»
With Paul and Wembanyama’s gesture making the rounds on social media, others joined in to boost Knox’s and Kai’s collection.
Curry sent two autographed jerseys, one to replace Kai’s and another one for Knox. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic also sent two.
The boys received authentic LeBron James and Kobe Bryant jerseys.
Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero from the Orlando Magic, and Cooper Flagg, who was starring at Duke University at the time. (Duke, Redick’s alma mater, also sent a Redick No. 4 Blue Devils jersey for good measure). UCLA’s basketball program sent jerseys, too.
Topps and Panini sent basketball and football cards to restock their cardboard collectibles.
Each item provided some temporary joy and pride of ownership, while the boys had been surrounded by so much sorrow and upheaval, with 37 other families in their school also losing their homes.
«The awareness they have for their loss and everyone else’s loss, it’s something we talk about all the time as parents,» Redick said. «They understand the magnitude of this natural disaster and that it doesn’t just affect them.»
How did it make them feel?
«Excited and thankful,» Kai said.
«Happy and shocked,» Knox said.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr attended, appears unscathed, with bright aqua letters announcing «Pali High — Home of the Dolphins» on the side of the building.
Across the street from the school, there are empty lots where houses once stood, some with construction equipment parked on the property. A precious few have wooden studs erected. Some are still filled with debris and will never be rebuilt.
On Redick’s old street, there are constant reminders of how much work is still needed.
The sign in front of Palisades Charter Elementary School reads: «Returning August.»
And on the line below: «2028.»
Placards from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are placed near the curb, sometimes as the only marker of the address of a house that once stood there.
Charred tree branches stand out like ink stains against the expansive blue sky and ocean views.
On Swarthmore Avenue, a statue has been erected that features two metallic human-like figures holding hands, with each figure missing parts of its body. Half an arm here, a chunk out of its side there. Its title is «Broken But Together.» A sign next to it reads, «This statue was the only thing that miraculously survived the fire at our home.»
Redick hopes that the community, slowly but surely, can rebuild — together.
«We found this amazing thing, this amazing place with amazing people,» Redick said. «And that’s really the hope for the [new] rec center, to be honest with you. And whether it’s a church, a school, a rec center, like these public spaces being open — Rick [Caruso’s] Palisades Village, honestly — it gives a reason for people to come back.»
Redick recognizes the «logistical nightmare» many Palisades residents face — even if their homes survived the fires.
Redick has concentrated his efforts at a place that he and his family found to be the heartbeat of his Palisades experience.
«If we were in town and it wasn’t a game day, I was at the rec center,» Redick said.
He wasn’t the only one. His LA Strong Sports foundation estimates the center served more than 750 kids daily, hosted more than 70 programs ranging from basketball and baseball for kids, to tennis and bocce ball for adults.
It provided a chance for connection, conversation and growth for children. It was an oasis.
The gymnasium where Knox and Kai played their basketball games has been torn down. It survived the fires, but the heat, combined with the sprinkler system, caused the court to warp and buckle so badly that the wooden planks looked like rolling waves — some several feet tall.
Redick invited the kids from the displaced rec league to come to the UCLA Health and Training Center to play last March. With a new rec season underway, the Redicks still return for rec practices in the Palisades auxiliary gym, a brick building that survived the tragedy, and are reminded of what was lost.
«It’s crazy to see all the things that used to be there are gone now,» Knox said. «It makes me feel sad.»
Redick anticipates the city will approve building permits for the rec center by the end of the month, if not early February, and he has helped secure nearly $25 million of the $47 million the reconstruction calls for, with the goal of reopening as early as the first half of 2027, sources told ESPN.
Knox picked their home by the bluffs, falling in love with it out of all the spots the family toured.
«We told him he could pick because we were moving him,» Redick said. «He was so excited to be in fourth grade and have his electives and go to the big school.»
Redick says his family has lived in 19 different homes during his NBA career and post-playing days.
The Palisades was their Camelot.
«We get to L.A., and it’s like within days, we’re like, ‘Oh, this place is magical. We’re happy,'» Redick said. «And Chelsea made comments to me early in the season, ‘This is the happiest I’ve seen you since you played.'»
That home might be gone now, but it’s not forgotten. After 10 months shuttling between hotels, temporary units and spending the offseason out East, the Redicks have settled into a new place they purchased, and they hope it will be permanent.
«The word of the night for our [fundraising] event was ‘a night of resilience.’ And what I told Chelsea,» Redick said, «was we couldn’t have predicted this would happen, but her and the kids’ level of resilience and toughness and love and adaptability and all that stuff was like, it’s been incredible to watch.
«It made us tighter as a family, truthfully. It made us stronger as a family. I’m proud of the three of them. Really proud.»
And Redick is hoping the Palisades can return to the place it once was, and provide an enclave of happiness for other families once again, the way it did for him.
A hope perfectly described by Knox when asked for his definition of home.
«A safe and comfortable place that you can go back to and cheers you up.»
