DETROIT — The Southern California house where Steve Kerr grew up has burned down. The high school he went to is gone. His childhood friends have lost their homes and their town is unrecognizable — mostly ash and ruins.
“It’s an idyllic place,” Kerr, the Warriors’ coach, said Thursday. “It’s a beautiful town, sunsets every night. Just amazing memories. My dad taught at UCLA so that drive from Pacific Palisades down Sunset Boulevard to the campus at UCLA is one I’ve made a million times. So many great memories. Then to see the images of Sunset Boulevard and the Palisades — just shocking. Looks apocalyptic. Devastating.”
Just a couple weeks ago, when the Warriors were in Los Angeles to play the Clippers, Kerr visited his mom, Ann, at the home he grew up in. They celebrated his 90th birthday there over the summer. But for the past day, he’s been on text chains and calls with his family after the devastating wildfires that remain uncontained ravaged the Pacific Palisades and other enclaves of Los Angeles.
“It’s hard to even fathom how Pacific Palisades rebuilds and how it becomes a thriving community again,” Kerr said. “It’s shocking.”
Ann evacuated and is safe and sound, Kerr said. Warriors video coordinator Everett Dayton is back home in the area with his family; Kerr said Dayton’s home is believed to be one of the few still standing. Player development coach Jacob Rubin is from Mandeville Canyon, another affected area. One of the fires progressed toward Brentwood, where Draymond Green has a home. (His family is safe.)
The fires are already estimated to be the costliest in U.S. history. At least six people have died, according to multiple news outlets, and more than 100,000 residents from a variety of Los Angeles County neighborhoods have evacuated.
“The town looks like it’s been just completely wiped out,” Kerr said. “Fortunately, almost everyone escaped. The pictures reminded me of Lahaina from a couple years ago. I’m so happy there wasn’t the loss of life the people in Hawaii experienced.”
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Kerr’s parents bought the home in 1969. He said his mom took as many photos and paintings as she could while she evacuated. What matters more to Kerr are the memories.
“A lifetime of memories and occasions,” Kerr said. “Birthday parties and everything else. To see the destruction, the devastation — it’s unfathomable.”
Preparing for the Warriors’ Thursday night game against the Pistons at the Little Caesar’s Arena has helped take Kerr’s mind off the loss, he said.
The Warriors are coming off two straight brutal losses — to the short-handed Kings and the Heat. Kerr said the team is going through a “crisis of confidence” and needs to regain its “competitive spirit.”
Golden State doesn’t have any of its top wings available. Andrew Wiggins flew home from Detroit before the game for personal reasons. (Kerr said all is OK with Wiggins but declined to expand further.) Moses Moody is out with a lingering knee injury. Jonathan Kuminga’s sprained ankle will rule him out for at least two more weeks. Gary Payton II remains out with a calf strain, though he’s nearing a return. And Brandin Podziemski will miss his sixth straight game with an abdominal strain; he worked with head trainer Rick Celebrini at morning shootaround.
Steph Curry and Draymond Green are active on the first night of a back-to-back. Although the plan is subject to change, Curry has been sitting one game in every back-to-back the Warriors play since his knee tendinitis popped up earlier this year.
