A wildfire took place in Butte County – known as the Camp Fire – and its effect was seen as the Sacramento Kings played against the Los Angeles Lakers. The smoke from the fire was seen above the court in the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, and the Lakers were clearly upset by it.
The likes of LeBron James and JaVale McGee definitely found the smoke disturbing.”You can smell it,” James said prior to the game. “We haven’t really gotten up and down [running] like that to the point where you can tell it affects you or not, but anytime smoke is around, you know it can affect all of us. Not only us as athletes but everyone. Everyone gets affected by pollution.”
James scored a game-high 25 points as the Lakers won the game 101-86, but said that the air in the arena “affected him a lot.” “I had a slight headache before the game,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to get some good rest tonight.”
Lakers big man JaVale McGee suffers from asthma, and he obviously found the smoke problematic. “My stomach was hurtin’ like I was hungry or something, but it was from the smoke for sure, so … but we still won, though, so it’s all good,” he said.
The smoke was not favourable for anyone, but the Lakers got the win which improved them to 6-6 for the season.