Game off again: NBA postpones Charlotte Hornets’ matchup vs. LA Clippers
Six hours before the NBA officially pulled the plug on the Charlotte Hornets’ next scheduled outing in Southern California, Charles Lee did his best to keep the status quo even though rumblings were growing.
“The most important thing is we’ve been kind of preparing as if the game is going to happen,” the first-year coach told The Observer following a lengthy team session at the Intuit Dome. “I thought we had a great practice today in terms of contact and trying to keep our rhythm going and just continuing to improve ourselves.”
Turns out, though, the Hornets’ first look at the LA Clippers’ new multimillion-dollar arena Friday is going to have to suffice for now. They won’t be playing the Clippers after all.
Continuing raging wildfires in the area led to the NBA postponing the Hornets’ matchup with James Harden & Co. on Saturday night. The decision comes 24 hours after Charlotte’s Thursday night matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena suffered the same fate. The Lakers’ contest against the San Antonio Spurs slated for Saturday night was also postponed.
All games will be rescheduled.
Following the NFL’s relocation of Monday night’s wild card game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings — which was to have taken place at SoFi Stadium — to a neutral site at Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the Hornets were fully aware this would be a possibility.
In announcing the moves, the league cited the importance of keeping emergency services available to help with the unprecedented ordeal.
“The NBA and the Clippers and Lakers organizations have been in communication with local officials in Los Angeles and Inglewood about the ongoing situation in the Los Angeles area,” the league said in a statement, “and the game postponements ensure no resources will be diverted from the wildfire response efforts.”
Additionally, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association are donating $1 million for relief to the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen and other organizations.
Postponing their outing against the Clippers means the Hornets (8-27) will have played just once in the six days leading into Sunday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. It also reduces their trip to just three games and there’s not much leeway on the Hornets’ schedule for the dates with both Los Angeles teams to be made up.
Perhaps the NBA can squeeze in one game during Charlotte’s next trip to the Pacific and Mountain time zones, potentially sandwiching it around the Hornets’ contest in Denver against the Nuggets on Feb. 20. But that would call for the teams to meet on Feb. 19, when there are no other games scheduled coming out of the All-Star break, and would put the Hornets in a tough back-to-back situation.
The other possibility is to only make up the games if they have some bearing on the standings and playoff positioning. Either way, it’s not going to be the most ideal of circumstances for the Hornets.
However, considering that people lost their lives and invaluable items to the wildfires burning out of control, they aren’t about to complain one bit. It could be a whole lot worse.
“Obviously, it’s given us time but I think the biggest thing is praying for those that are dealing with the fire,” Cody Martin said. “I think that’s keeping the main thing the main thing. It’s unfortunate what’s going on, but it’s really hard to imagine that that stuff is going on in people’s homes. It’s something they are dealing with, so it’s bigger than basketball.
“We are all thinking about the people that are dealing with that right now and praying for them. It’s just unfortunate. That’s really what’s been on a lot of our minds, is them.”
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 11:10 PM.
