Sports
Steve Kerr, JJ Redick provide respite as Palisades basketball team endures after fires
LOS ANGELES — JJ Redick knew exactly what he was doing. The Los Angeles Lakers coach stepped into a subtle moment and broke the awkward silence with the matter-of-fact delivery of a question. One designed to rile up the guys. Add some juice to the moment.
“Who’s the best player on the team?” Redick asked.
Hands flew up. Five players nominated themselves with raised arms. Another did so with a confident smirk. Redick grinned at the chaos he provoked as several Palisades Charter High School boys basketball team members claimed the crown.
“Are we serious?” sophomore point guard Jack Levey asked, his right hand raised above his head.
“Look at the stats,” senior wing Tommy Pickens said with a smile from his seat, his index finger held high.
The Palisades Dolphins were guests of Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, hosted by the Lakers on Thursday. They watched the Lakers beat the Warriors from a suite. As a nightcap, they got to hang in a private lounge with Kerr and Redick after the game.
“Every team I was ever on, we all knew who the best player was,” Redick said, one arm folded across his gray hoodie that read Pali Strong in light blue letters. “I’m not saying it was me. I’m saying we all knew who the best player was. You guys, deep down … you know who the best player is.”
The best has taken on a new meaning for the Dolphins. Their school was part of the carnage of the Pacific Palisades fires last month. A couple of players lost their homes. All of them lost their sense of normalcy.
Steve Kerr and JJ Redick speak to the team after Thursday’s Warriors-Lakers game. Last month, fires disrupted their lives and their season. (Courtesy of Golden State Warriors)
But their team is a testament to what was discovered in the ashes, for they found a deeper brotherhood. They found their resilience. They found the spirit of community.
“I learned that they’re their family,” said coach Jeff Bryant in his first season leading Palisades. “And they are relentless. They’re brothers. And they’re going to fight the fight. There was a community once before. There will be a community again.”
And on this night, they found the empathy of a pair of NBA coaches.
Redick, in his first year on the Lakers bench, made the Pacific Palisades his home. He drove past the high school to work every day. The house the Redicks rented burned in the fires, forever engraving them into their new community.
Kerr graduated from Palisades High in 1983. He introduced his mother, Ann, to the team. They told them how at 90 years old she lost the home where she raised her children. More than half a century of memories incinerated.
“Her house is on Chautauqua (Boulevard),” said Kerr, sporting a navy and white Palisades Dolphins trucker cap. “That’s where I grew up. It’s been in the family since 1969.”
But both Kerr and Redick have stiff-armed sympathy. They have resources most victims of the fire don’t. So they shared some of them with the Palisadian hoopers.
If time with two popular NBA coaches wasn’t enough, the Dolphins players were each gifted Kobe Bryant signature Nikes and Warriors gear. They got some television time and media coverage. Their moment of shine had their text messages blowing up.
“Everybody knows us now,” senior wing Mikal Sims said with a confident smile plastered across his face. He’s 6-foot-2 with square shoulders and immaculate cornrows. The camera loves him.
“We were the big people on campus. Then, the campus burned down. Now we’re just the big people wherever we are.”
“They all inspire me with how they are handling it,” Palisades coach Jeff Bryant says of his players, pictured here talking with Steve Kerr. (Courtesy of Golden State Warriors)
With two games left in the regular season, the Dolphins are, somehow, still on a path to the playoffs. They were 9-5 when flames engulfed their city on Jan. 7. In the 12 games since their season resumed, the Dolphins are 8-4.
They even pushed Westchester, leaders of the Western League. Playing a home game at nearby Santa Monica High, the Dolphins put together a 19-0 first-half run to take control of the game. They eventually lost by 10 — their two conference losses are to Westchester, led by Tajh Ariza, son of NBA champion Trevor Ariza — but Palisades got a glimpse of its newfound edge.
“We played a great first half,” Levey, the point guard, said. “A great first half. That’s when I knew that, after the fire, we were still ready to go.”
And that only begins to illustrate their impressiveness. Because undergirding it all is their upended worlds. The fires no longer dominate the news, but still their lives.
They’re back to school online, which the COVID-19 pandemic revealed can be detrimental to students. Now, if they want to hang out as teammates, they travel about 15 miles from campus to Westfield Culver City to grab food together at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse.
Many of the staples and comforts of their teenage lives have been burned away. Much of what they know as home, as life, is covered in soot.
“It’s adversity,” their coach said. “We stare it in the eye. We face it. They all inspire me with how they are handling it. They’re dealing with this every day. If they didn’t lose their home, they lost their community. The restaurants they go eat at after school. The grocery stores they go to. The gas station.”
Yet, they’ve found their groove while all around them smolders.
They don’t have a gym, so their practice schedule is unsettled. They find hardwood where they can, at scarcely convenient times. It’s not uncommon for them to practice at 8 p.m. in a neighboring school’s gym.
“It’s crazy. But everyone is showing up on time,” Levey said.
Wreckage from the Palisades fire sits next to the high school. The facility was badly damaged in the blaze that hit the L.A. area. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Levey is only a sophomore but a clear leader. He’s one of the team’s hardest workers. He runs the offense, feeds the talent around him and scores when necessary.
But his floor general duties also are used to organize his team off the court. He doesn’t even drive yet, but he helps make sure his teammates get what they need. He’s constantly communicating, making sure he spends time with everyone.
It’s made bonding so much different. Their trivial conversations have been accompanied by real ones. They’ve been forced to grow into more than just teammates by their need for one another.
Matin Farhangnia, a senior point guard, lost his home. Pickens moved to California from Michigan, leaving his mom and sister to move with his dad. This senior season was supposed to get him exposure on the court. It wound up exposing him to a new family off it.
The Dolphins’ response: To become even more of a team. To hold dear to their joy. To be liberal with their smiles. To cling to appreciation. Yes, fire destroys. But it also refines.
“We came together more,” Sims said. “The fires really brought detriment to a few of our players. So we really felt for them. We really had to come together. You know, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I really believe that. And we’ve been beaten down pretty bad. But right now, I feel like we’re stronger together.”
GO DEEPER
For Palisades High players, baseball offers normalcy amid a charred L.A. landscape
(Top photo of Steve Kerr and J.J. Redick with the Palisades Charter High School basketball team: Courtesy of Golden State Warriors)
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Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes will be out for the rest of the season as he suffered a torn ACL on Sunday in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, according to multiple reports.
Mahomes’ knee buckled while he was scrambling and as he was getting hit by Chargers defensive end Da’Shawn Hand. He was helped off the field and he limped to the locker room. An MRI reportedly confirmed the extent of the damage.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes grabs his knee after being injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
The quarterback wrote a message to fans as word of his injury trickled out.
“Don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes wrote on X. “And not going to lie (it) hurts. But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I Will be back stronger than ever.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid offered a gloomy outlook for Mahomes as he spoke to reporters following the loss.
PHILIP RIVERS THROWS FIRST TOUCHDOWN PASS SINCE 2020 SEASON
Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Odafe Oweh (98) sacks Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 14, 2025. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)
“… It didn’t look good,” Reid said when asked whether he knew if Mahomes’ injury was serious. “I mean you guys saw it. We’ll just see where it goes.”
The loss to the Chargers also meant the Chiefs will not be making the postseason. Kansas City made it to the AFC Championship each season since 2018. They made it to the Super Bowl in each of the last three seasons, winning two titles in that span.
Mahomes will finish the season with 3,398 passing yards and 22 touchdown passes.
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Kansas City is 6-8 on the year.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On a day when the Chargers took a big step toward the postseason, the Kansas City Chiefs lost their most important player.
What started in balmy Brazil ended Sunday in the bitter cold of Arrowhead Stadium. The Chargers completed a season sweep of AFC West bully Kansas City with a 16-13 victory that ultimately knocked the Chiefs out of playoff contention for the first time in 11 years.
It was the third-coldest game in Chargers history — 15 degrees at kickoff — and showcased a red-hot defense that paved the way to Los Angeles wins over Philadelphia and Kansas City, last season’s Super Bowl teams, in consecutive weeks.
“This is a ball team,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said, gleeful after his team won for the sixth time in seven games. “A real ball team.”
This Chargers season, which began with a 27-21 victory over the Chiefs in São Paulo, is just the second in the last 13 years in which they beat their division rival twice.
Harbaugh began his postgame remarks on a somber note, wishing the best for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who left the game late in the fourth quarter after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he was hit by defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand.
Gardner Minshew closed out at quarterback for the Chiefs, and the game ended when Derwin James Jr. intercepted his final pass. There would be no fantastic finish for the franchise that won the last nine division titles.
“We’ve been going at those guys for a while, going back to Baltimore,” said Chargers edge rusher Odafe Oweh, acquired in a trade with the Ravens this season. “It was long overdue.”
A week after Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals in the win over Philadelphia, he kicked three more against the Chiefs.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes grabs his left leg after sustaining a torn ACL in the fourth quarter.
(Reed Hoffmann / Associated Press)
Oweh had two sacks of Mahomes, and Tuli Tuipulotu had two more. The defense had the Chiefs in a hammer lock, limiting them to 190 yards in the air and a mere 49 on the ground.
Still, the Chargers had to dig themselves out of a hole. They faced a 13-3 deficit late in the second quarter before tearing off 13 unanswered points.
Justin Herbert threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to rookie KeAndre Lambert-Smith with five seconds left in the first half to start the comeback. After that it was Dicker and defense for the visitors.
“It was really cool that we were able to close out a one-score game like that,” said Herbert, who said his surgically repaired left hand felt tight in the cold weather but was better, as was his grip on the ball. “How many times we’ve played them and it’s been those one-score games? The defense came up with the turnovers and the stops.”
Kansas City, trailing by three, got all the way down to the visitors’ 17 early in the fourth quarter but the Chargers yet again came up big on defense. Linebacker Daiyan Henley intercepted a third-down pass near the goal line, getting position on running back Kareem Hunt and essentially becoming the receiver on the play.
“I was surprised to even see the ball go up in the air, but I had to revert back to my receiver days and get an over-the-shoulder look,” said Henley, who last lined up as a pass catcher six or seven years ago at the University of Nevada Reno. “Eye-hand coordination is something you just have to have in those moments.”
Not everything the Chargers defense did was so smooth. Safety Tony Jefferson was ejected in the fourth quarter after a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked Chiefs receiver Tyquan Thornton out of the game. The call to send Jefferson packing was not made by officials on the field, who flagged him for unnecessary roughness, but by league officials watching from New York.
Earlier in the second half, Jefferson flattened receiver Rashee Rice with another devastating hit, and Rice came after him as the Chargers safety made his way off the field and toward the locker room. Players from both sides intervened.
Chargers safety Tony Jefferson leaves the field after being ejected against the Chiefs on Sunday.
(Reed Hoffmann / Associated Press)
In response to the booing crowd, Jefferson raised both middle fingers, a gesture that likely will draw more attention from the league.
“I apologize for that,” he said afterward. “I’m classier than that. I was just caught up in the moment. Emotions get high. I won’t sit here and act like I’m a perfect man. I messed up when I did that.”
The Chargers (10-4), who finish the season at Denver, have yet to lose an AFC West game. They are 5-0 in those and remain within striking distance of the division-leading Broncos.
It won’t be an easy road. The Chargers play at Dallas next Sunday, then play host to Houston before closing out the regular season against the Broncos.
“I started thinking, this is my favorite ball team I’ve ever been on,” Harbaugh said. “Been on some good ones. None better than this one.
“They’re tight. Fates are intertwined. It’s unselfish. Nothing anyone is doing is for themselves.”
And on this frigid Sunday, that paid some unforgettable dividends.
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Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the first Hoosier to win the coveted Heisman Trophy, college football’s most prestigious award.
Mendoza claimed 2,392 first-place votes, beating Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435 votes), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719 votes) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432 votes).
Mendoza guided the Hoosiers to their first No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, throwing for 2,980 yards and a nation-best 33 touchdown passes while also running for six scores.
Indiana, the last unbeaten team in major college football, will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Rose Bowl Jan. 1.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza runs off the field after a game against Wisconsin Nov. 15, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Mendoza, the Hoosiers’ first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that surpassed program records for touchdowns and points set during last season’s surprise run to the CFP.
A redshirt junior, the once lightly recruited Miami native is the second Heisman finalist in school history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. The trophy was established in 1935.
NO 2 INDIANA CAPS OFF COMEBACK WIN OVER PENN STATE WITH SENSATIONAL TOUCHDOWN, KEEPS UNDEFEATED SEASON ALIVE
Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to earn a top 10 finish in Heisman balloting, and it marks another first in program history. It now has had players in the top 10 of Heisman voting in back-to-back years. Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke was ninth last year.
Quarterbacks have won the Heisman four of the last five years. Travis Hunter of Colorado, who played wide receiver and cornerback, won last season.
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Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza throws before a game against Wisconsin Nov. 15, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Mendoza was named The Associated Press Player of the Year earlier this week and picked up the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards Friday night while Love won the Doak Walker Award.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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