Russell Westbrook has sent an emotional message to his hometown of Los Angeles as wildfires continue to blaze across the city.

The 36-year-old was born in Long Beach but now lays for the Denver Nuggets, who beat the Los Angeles Clippers in Colorado on Wednesday night.

But for Westbrook, who scored 19 points in the win, his thoughts and prayers have been with his friends and family back in California who have been caught up in the devastation.

‘My family is safe, but people that I know, close friends and family have lost their homes,’ he said. ‘Being from LA, never seen anything like this before.

‘Not being able to do nothing is really difficult. It’s going to be a tough rebuild, but LA is very strong and we can stick together and make something happen.

‘The best thing I can do, obviously this is my job, but go out and try to give people joy and inspiration by going out and playing the game as hard as I can – but also making sure I find ways to help any way I can.’

Fires across LA have devastated the city – five are ᴅᴇᴀᴅ with thousands of buildings destroyed

Denver Nuggets star Russell Westbrook said his friends and family were caught up in the fires

Westbrook went to college at UCLA and has played for both LA NBA teams – spending two years with the Lakers from 2021 until 2023 and a season with the Clippers after that. He headed to Denver in 2024.

At least five people have died from the fires while over 2,000 buildings have been destroyed.

The Los Angeles Lakers NBA game against Charlotte Hornets, scheduled for Thursday night at Crypto.Com in LA, is off, 24 hours after the NHL team LA Kings postponed a game at the same venue.

It has also emerged that the Lakers coach, J.J. Redick, lost his family home in the fires.

The Los Angeles Rams are still hopeful of hosting their NFL Playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.

But if it is deemed unsafe for the game to go ahead at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, it could be moved to Arizona.