Chris Paul, a veteran guard for the San Antonio Spurs, expressed his concern for his family in light of the ongoing Southern California wildfire. The widespread fire has devastated Los Angeles residents, destroying homes and structures in the past few days.
While Paul lives in San Antonio this season, he can’t help but think about his family living in Los Angeles. Since joining the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011, he’s raised his family on the West Coast. Even until now when he’s bounced around from team to team, his family has stayed in the state of California.
“It’s definitely scary, everything that is going on,” Paul said. “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 has had trouble focusing on basketball as he’s focused on the well-being of his family.
“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.”
Chris Paul says it’s been tough to focus on basketball with his family in L.A. during fires: ‘I didn’t sleep last night’
https://t.co/Wt4a5ys1HH— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) January 9, 2025
Over the summer, Paul signed a one-year, $11 million deal to play for the Spurs. He’s provided leadership and mentorship with the young San Antonio team, averaging 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists.
Similar to Paul, former Spurs star Kawhi Leonard and his family have been affected by the wildfire.
Former Spurs player believes the San Antonio team can fix the Jimmy Butler situation
The situation with Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat hasn’t improved since the star requested a trade. While the Phoenix Suns are the leading candidate to acquire Butler, former Spurs player Stephen Jackson believes his former team is the only destination that can fix things.
“For me, the only landing spot is the Spurs; everything else is fluff. The Spurs is the only spot because that way—he’s going to the end of his career—he can get his contract and possibly have a great chance to win a championship,” said Jackson.
“It was the same kind of pattern in Philadelphia and in Minnesota,” he observed. “When he’s not happy, he starts being hurt a lot, starts missing games, and starts doing a lot of unusual stuff.”
With an impressive young core, the Spurs have a $149 cap space that could fulfill Butler’s demand of signing a contract extension. The team can compete against the Suns, who are reportedly ready to offer the six-time All-Star a two-year, $121 million extension.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
