Clippers' Kawhi Leonard opens up on leaving road trip, tending to family amid Los Angeles fires

Yesterday at 08:58 AM

INGLEWOOD, CA — Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers returned to action on Monday night, hosting the Miami Heat in the team’s first game back following a four day break due to the Los Angeles wildfires. It was also the first time anyone outside of the team, friends, and family had a chance to speak with Leonard since the fires started.

Leonard left the Clippers ahead of their contest against the Denver Nuggets last week after it was reported that his family was among those told to evacuate the Pacific Palisades area due to the fires.

Kawhi Leonard opens up on leaving Clippers road trip due to fires

The Clippers defeated the Heat on Monday night, 109-98, on the backs of another monster third quarter that saw the LA outscore Miami, 36-20.

Norman Powell led the Clippers in scoring with 29 points, adding six rebounds and three steals on the night. James Harden added 26 points, 11 assists, and five rebounds while knocking down six three-pointers. Ivica Zubac recorded his second career 20-20 game, finishing with 21 points, 20 rebounds, and two blocked shots on 10-of-13 from the field.

The Clippers performed well on a night when many were wondering how the players and the city would respond to the return of basketball. This was a city that saw thousands of homes burned, at least 25 lives lost, and hundreds of thousands of lives forever changed.

The Clippers even saw a few members of their organization have to evacuate days earlier due to the fires in Los Angeles.

“It was hard,” Tyronn Lue said of getting the team to focus up after a game postponement and uncertainty. “It was hard just understanding what everyone is going through. The whole city and just everyone rallying behind each other just trying to do what they can to help support friends, families, neighbors. It’s a tough time.”

James Harden, grew up in Los Angeles and went to high school in Artesia, said he wasn’t one of those affected by the fires, but struggled to find the words to explain something he’d never witnessed before in his life.

“It’s really sad man, for real,” Harden said after the Clippers win. “I don’t know how to explain it. So many people are impacted by this tragedy. Whether it’s material things or loved ones, whatever the case may be, you don’t really know what to say to people but try to support and have their back and really come together and closer. Honestly, that’s the only route we got.

“For me, just trying to figure out ways that I can put my imprint on it and help in whatever needs to be done. It’s something you can’t control and it’s frustrating. I feel for the people that’s had to be evacuated, that lost loved ones, that lost everything they had. We’ll figure out how to help people.”

James Harden on what the last few days have been like with the Los Angeles fires.

"It's really sad man, for real. I don't know how to explain it. So many people are impacted by this tragedy. Whether it's material things or loved ones, whatever the case may be, you don't really… pic.twitter.com/GHOHSUkSXL

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 14, 2025

Kawhi Leonard, who missed the team’s last game against the Denver Nuggets in order to fly back to Los Angeles to be with his evacuated family members, returned to action on Monday night. Leonard finished with six points, five rebounds, and two steals in 20 minutes and 44 seconds of action.

The Clippers’ forward participated in practices this past weekend and was available to play with no additional restrictions outside of the 20 minutes he was already limited to in the week prior to this game.

“The last few days, we had practice,” Leonard said. “What’s today? Monday. So we had practice yesterday, the day before that, they gave us some time to our families to attend to. Like everybody knows, there’s been evacuations in L.A., so everybody is trying to round their families up, the ones that are affected, and just keeping everyone settled.”

Kawhi Leonard on the last few days, leaving Denver to help his family evacuate:

"The last few days, we had practice. What's today? Monday. So we had practice yesterday, the day before that, they gave us some time to our families to attend to. Like everybody knows, there's been… pic.twitter.com/r5aXyJ2ETW

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 14, 2025

When asked about his own situation involving family and friends, Leonard kept it short, indicating that nobody is okay at the moment.

"As we know, everybody is not okay. You’ve seen the houses burned down, so it’s self explained.”

Reporter: "You live within that area that's affected by the Palisades fire. Is your house okay? Is everybody [ok], are your neighbors [ok]?"

Kawhi Leonard: "As we know, everybody is not okay. You've seen the houses burned down so it's self explanatory." pic.twitter.com/0qa52VYwvX

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 14, 2025

Los Angeles is under another very serious red flag warning and weather watch. Reports out of L.A.’s local news stations and top meteorologists state that high winds, and potential fire danger, should be expected starting early Tuesday morning through Wednesday evening.

Assuming Saturday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets is the only one that gets postponed, the Clippers have a chance to get back on track with a solid home stretch in January that continues with the Brooklyn Nets in town on Wednesday.

Six of the next seven games are at home and seven of the next 11 games are against teams under .500. In fact, the Clippers don’t even have to travel outside of the Pacific timezone until January 27th. With only two back-to-back sets, Kawhi Leonard should be able to participate in every game outside of one-half of those back-to-backs.

The Clippers are hopeful the return of basketball will find ways to help anyone affected bye the surrounding tragedies.

“We’re just here to support, try to uplift people by playing basketball,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “See if you can put smiles on places and see if we can have people to gather, watch the game, and do something different to try to take their minds off of it. But it’s tough times right now. Us as a team, an organization, we’re trying to do everything we can to help. Just gotta get through it. Stay strong and get through it.”

“Eventually, it was going to happen,” James Harden added. “I think for the most part, they got a lot of it contained, from what I’m hearing, so eventually we were going to get back to basketball, but then still do our due diligence and figure out how to help people that’s still evacuated and don’t have anywhere to go. It’s going to be a work in progress for a very, very, very long time. That’s something that all of us as a group are going to have to be willing to sacrifice and help with.”

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