At 5 a.m. Wednesday, Clippers forward Nicolas Batum got word that his family would need to evacuate their Tarzana home because the Palisades fire had shifted that direction. Batum was with the Clippers in Denver for a game that night, but had been constantly checking his phone and talking to his wife and two children.
Playing the Nuggets was the last thing on his mind at the time. He only thought about the safety of his family and those affected by the devastating fires across Los Angeles County.
“I wanted to come home,” Batum said after practice Sunday.