Lakers' Luka Doncic's Foundation Will Donate $500K to LA Wildfire Recovery Efforts

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić announced he's donating $500,000 through his charitable foundation to aid in the recovery efforts from the recent Los Angeles wildfires.

"It's been so sad to see and learn more about the damage from the wildfires since I landed in L.A," he said in a statement. "I can't believe it and I feel for all the kids who lost their homes, schools, and the places where they used to play with their friends."

At least 29 people died as a result of the wildfires, and one projection from AccuWeather had the economic loss at between $250 billion and $275 billion.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick said the home he and his family were renting in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles burned down, incinerating countless possessions and mementos.

Even now, with the fires extinguished, the Los Angeles Times' Rong-Gong Lin II wrote how the scorching of the local ecosystem has increased the risk of landslides and debris flows with heavy rain in the forecast.

The Lakers acquired Dončić ahead of the NBA trade deadline, after the worst wildfires are contained, but as he said, the damage is readily apparent to anybody who visits the city. The state government estimates that 57,636 acres were burned and 16,246 structures were destroyed.