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SALT LAKE CITY — When Utah Jazz forward Johnny Juzang returned to the locker room following Thursday's game he got the news: His family was readying to evacuate. One of the fires burning around in the Los Angeles area was getting too close.
Juzang went to high school at Harvard-Westlake School, located on the north side of the same hill that the Palisades and Sunset fires are tormenting on the south.
"I just checked right after the game," he said. "They said they've packed up, and now they're evacuating. I think it's on the hill on the other side, so I think it's starting to move north over the hill. It's crazy."
Juzang isn't the only Jazz player keeping up with the havoc caused by the multiple infernos.
Rookie guard Isaiah Collier, who played his lone college season at USC, has been checking for updates hourly. His mother, father, grandmother, brother and girlfriend are all still in the Los Angeles area.
Some have had to evacuate, some are deep enough in the city to be shielded a bit from the infernos.
"My mom, my dad, my grandma are still out there — the fire is about 15 minutes from where they are at," he said. "They are still there. I'm still checking in with my mom and all that."
It's enough distance to keep them safe, but he'd still prefer a few more hundred-mile buffer.
"I mean, I got her a spot out here," he said, talking about his mom. "I don't know what she's waiting on!"
But such a journey, he admits, would be hard on his grandmother, who is in her late 90s.
"It's hard for her to get up and go. It's hard to move her around," Collier said.
She did make the journey back around Thanksgiving to see her grandson play. That was a moment that will stay with him — especially now.
"It was a cool experience, for sure," he said. "Got to joke around with her after the game. She watches every game. TV be on 100 volume, but she watches every game."
They are wearing masks to try and protect themselves from the heavy smoke that has covered the area, and he continues to monitor things in hopes that a move doesn't become an absolute necessity.
The fires have killed at least 10 people, burned thousands of buildings and are still far from contained.
Juzang's girlfriend and her sister have made it out to Utah after the sister's apartment was caught in the fire.
"Luckily, she's not a homeowner or anything, but still, her apartment, like all her stuff, it's done," he said.
His girlfriend's place, for now, is safe, but the sisters came to Utah to avoid the bad air quality and any potential water issues. The whole thing has led to fear and frustration.
"I don't think that they clean the brush out there and you have fires every two years — pretty bad management of that stuff," he said. "You need to protect all these homeowners and business owners."
With fires blanketing his home city, Juzang had to go out and take the court on Thursday. He finished with 5 points and six rebounds and had a team-high plus/minus of +8 against the Heat.
"It's a little crazy to come out and give it everything and be present," he said.
But as soon as the buzzer sounded it was right back to reality.
"Right after the game, I checked because I knew it was getting closer," Juzang said.
