Pacific Palisades Charter High School has needed an emotional lift after the devastating fires in Southern California.
So of course, Warriors coach Steve Kerr delivered.
The 59-year-old from Pacific Palisades is treating his alma mater’s basketball team to Golden State’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 6 at Crypto.com Arena.
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"Getting them a little red-carpet treatment," Kerr told reporters Sunday after the Warriors’ 118-108 loss to the Lakers at Chase Center when the gesture still was in the works. “[Lakers owner] Jeanie Buss actually went to Pali as well. [Senior vice president of communications Raymond Ridder] has been in touch with the Lakers.
“The school, with all the damage, it’s going to be a long time before they can get back to school …”
The timely gesture from Kerr comes on the same day the infamous Palisades fire, which started burning on Jan. 7, was deemed 100 percent contained by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Kerr graduated from Pacific Palisades Charter High School in 1983 before starting his four-year career at the University of Arizona. Surely a full-circle moment, the Palisades alum is helping his fellow Dolphins in a desperate time of need.
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First-year Lakers coach JJ Redick, too, presumably played a role in preparing to give the Palisades basketball team “a little red-carpet treatment.” Redick’s home, like Kerr’s childhood one, was one of the thousands of structures that succumbed to the historic flames in Pacific Palisades. If anyone understands needing a moment to reset and enjoy another classic duel between superstars Steph Curry and LeBron James, it’s LA’s clipboard-holder.
The Feb. 6 evening probably will be quite emotional.
Golden State, through its ups and downs of the 2024-25 NBA season, remains fortunate to have such a compassionate person in Kerr for a coach.