"My heart is heavy for my city": JuJu Watkins gets emotional amid devastating Southern California wildfires
JuJu Watkins, the USC superstar from LA, was devastated to hear about the massive wildfire in her hometown. Fortunately, Watkins' USC Trojans was traveling to the East Coast for their conference games when this tragedy occurred. Watkins took to Instagram to express her feelings about the tragedy. She said:
"My heart is so heavy for my city as so many are being affected by these devastating wildfires. Sending love and prayers to everyone affected. Stay safe LA."
The fires started in Palisades have now extended to multiple regions across Los Angeles. This has caused damages of millions of dollars and possibly billions of dollars across LA. People have left their childhood homes and multi-million dollar mansions across the area to evacuate to safety.
JuJu Watkins' USC HC Lindsay Gottlieb reacts to Southern California wildfire
JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen led USC to a narrow win vs Maryland on Wednesday to hand them their first defeat of the season. Watkins and Iriafen both had 21 points to lead all scorers.
In the post-game press conference, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb addressed the situation in Southern California in her opening statement as the wildfire started the same morning.
“First thing I just want to just say that we've been on the road for whatever it is now five days and our city is on fire," the coach said. "And it's been hard to be away and watch those scenes. So just want to send our thoughts and prayers to the first responders, to those impacted.
"You know I have friends that have been displaced, I know the players probably do too. So I just want to [say] that's more important obviously than what we're doing.”
How the basketball world was affected by the Southern California wildfires
The LA Lakers and the LA Clippers were forced to postpone their games due to the emergency in the area. They were set to face the San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Hornets at home respectively. Moreover, the UCLA Bruins women's basketball team also postponed their home game against Northwestern.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and LA Lakers coach JJ Redick both lost their family homes due to the Palisades fire. Austin Reaves rushed to console the Redick before he addressed the media on Friday.
Several more fires have broken out across other regions of the city. As a large population of Mexican people live in Los Angeles, even the government of Mexico has offered assistance by sending firemen across the border to help control the situation. Similarly, even Canada has offered assistance in hopes of helping the major city of California get back on its feet.