At first glance, it might be hard to see a connection between San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul and the Los Angeles wildfires that have forced countless people to evacuate their homes in recent days.
After all, Paul hasn’t played for a Los Angeles-based NBA team since he was part of the “Lob City” Los Angeles Clippers, with his final season as a Clipper coming in the 2016-17 campaign.
However, Paul has raised his family in L.A. dating back to his time with the Clippers, and he has loved ones who have been impacted by the wildfires. Paul’s wife and two kids had to evacuate their home on Tuesday. They headed to a hotel in a safer area.
“It’s definitely scary, everything that is going on,” Paul said Wednesday. “I’m sending so much love and prayers to some of my closest friends and family who have lost everything.”
The 12-time All-Star also admitted that it hasn’t exactly been easy to keep himself focused on basketball with all the devastation in Los Angeles. He shared that he didn’t sleep Tuesday night.
“It’s hard, really hard,” Paul said. “I didn’t sleep last night. For me, I’m more excited to get back to my family. I haven’t seen them throughout all this. I definitely want to get there.”
The good news for Paul is that the Spurs landed in Los Angeles early Thursday morning to continue their road trip, surely allowing him to reconnect with his family amid the crisis.
Paul signed with the Spurs back in the offseason, and though he’s not the scorer he once was, he’s still an elite playmaker. The five-time assist champion is dishing out a team-high 8.3 assists per game this season for a Spurs squad that’s been surprisingly competitive in the Western Conference.
The Spurs won 22 games all of last season, yet they already have 18 wins with this season less than halfway over. San Antonio is just one win below the .500 mark at 18-19 and owns the No. 10 seed in the West.
Paul has seemingly made life easier for San Antonio’s rising superstar, Victor Wembanyama. With Paul serving as Wembanyama’s floor general, the Frenchman is averaging a career-high 25.1 points per game while improving upon his scoring efficiency from his rookie season.
The Spurs and Paul are scheduled to take on LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 11 and again on Jan. 13. It will be understandable if Paul has other matters on his mind when the team plays the storied Lakers franchise, however, and here’s hoping that his friends and family who reside in the area are all now safe and sound.
