Los Angeles

Twelve professional sports teams from the Los Angeles area are coming together to provide support for those impacted by the wildfires in the L.A. area.

ESPN's Dave McMenamin shared a statement Monday that revealed the teams are pledging more than $8 million to help those in need.

Angel City FC, the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Galaxy, Los Angeles Kings, LAFC, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Sparks also partnered with Fanatics to provide merchandise for those who have been evacuated:

In addition to the financial contributions and work with Fanatics, the teams are providing items such as hygiene kits, shoes and school supplies on Friday at Dodger Stadium, SoFi Stadium and BMO Stadium.

The ongoing wildfires have caused devastation to the area and have continued to spread due to strong and forceful winds.

They have also caused a disruption to the sports world with Monday's NFL playoff game between the Rams and Minnesota Vikings being moved to the Arizona Cardinals' State Farm Stadium.

As for the NBA teams, games featuring the Lakers and Clippers have been postponed.

The Lakers and Clippers will both resume their seasons Monday when the former hosts the San Antonio Spurs and the latter hosts the Miami Heat.

Both teams are also helping in ways beyond Monday's announcement:

CNN reported on the latest developments regarding the wildfires Monday, noting at least 24 people have died while dozens are still missing. There are more than 92,000 residents under evacuation orders and approximately 89,000 under evacuation warnings.

Thousands of structures and homes have been destroyed, and firefighters and first responders are working around the clock in efforts to contain the blaze.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff sold his Los Angeles-area home for almost $6.4 million, according to the Los Angeles Times' Jack Flemming.

Goff listed the home for $7.5 million in June. The California native spent his first five seasons with the Los Angeles Rams prior to his 2021 trade to the Lions. He purchased the home for a little more than $4 million in May 2018.

The property includes a 4,300-square-foot main house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. There's also a guest house that totals 1,100 square feet. Among the amenities are a game room, swimming pool, spa and an outdoor putting green.

Although Goff ultimately got less than he was initially asking, he still made a handsome profit from the deal.

Those who packed into the Drew League on Saturday to see LeBron James were witnesses to a show.

James put up 42 points and 16 rebounds to lead his team to a 104-102 victory in his return to the Los Angeles-based pro-am league.

"For the City!! 👑 fk with y'all!" James posted on Instagram after the game.

James, who played alongside Drew regular and Chicago Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan, was making his first appearance at the Drew since 2011. The hoopla surrounding his arrival was palpable, packing the gym full of onlookers and even getting the NBA in on the action by streaming James and DeRozan's game.

Drew League commissioner Dino Smiley told ESPN's Dave McMenamin that Kyrie Irving was also supposed to participate in Saturday's action, but he was a no-show. Irving was instead seen at the youth basketball camp hosted by Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy.

While there was some hope James and Irving could team up with DeRozan as part of an All-NBA juggernaut, fans were anything but disappointed by the show they actually got to see.

A 45-year-old man was found dead in a man-made lake outside SoFi Stadium, the home of the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers and Rams, on Wednesday.

TMZ Sports reported the Los Angeles County Fire Department was called to the scene after it received word a man jumped into the water and didn't resurface. Dive teams eventually recovered the body after searching for several hours.

Inglewood Mayor James Butts said surveillance video suggested the individual willingly jumped in the water, per TMZ. An investigation is underway.

"This is someone that made a conscious decision to trespass onto the property, get into the lake and he ended up having some distress and difficulty," Butts said. "So I don't think there's anything SoFi could've done to prevent this."

The mayor added the individual jumped two fences before entering the lake, per Fox 11 Los Angeles. The man's name hasn't been released as of Thursday morning.

SoFi Stadium opened in 2020 after almost four years of construction. It features a 70,000-seat baseline capacity that can be enlarged to over 100,000 for major events.

The venue will serve as one of the main stadiums during the 2028 Summer Olympics in L.A.

Delvine Meringor won the women's division and John Korir emerged victorious in the men's division at the 2022 Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, which featured a course from Dodger Stadium to the Avenue of the Stars.

Here's a look at the top finishers on the men's side:

1. John Korir — 2:09:07
2. Edwin Kimutai — 2:10:42
3. Berhanu Bekele Berga — 2:15:10
4. Tyler McCandless — 2:15:18
5. Elisha Barno — 2:16:38

And on the women's side:

1. Delvine Meringor — 2:25:03
2. Antonina Kwambai — 2:30:12
3. Biruktayit Eshetu Degefa — 2:31:28
4. Martha Akeno — 2:34:02
5. Amanda Phillips — 2:35:06

Korir also won the 2021 men's race, though he improved his time by over three minutes on Sunday and needed that faster pace to hold off Kimutai.

It's the second Los Angeles Marathon in four months because last year's edition of the event was delayed until November because of COVID-19 concerns. Race organizers decided to move forward with the race's traditional March time slot this year.

The L.A. marathon was one of the final major sporting events in March 2020 before much of the sporting world was halted because of the coronavirus. Now, with COVID restrictions beginning to ease, an estimated 15,000 runners took to the streets Sunday.

Competitors experience a unique trip around the Los Angeles area with the course winding through several iconic areas, highlighted by runs on Sunset Boulevard and Rodeo Drive during a journey that includes downtown L.A., Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

The McCourt Foundation handles the race planning, and Laurie Gestal, its senior director of marketing, said it's not an easy task in a city with as many attractions as Los Angeles, per William D'Urso of Spectrum News.

"Finding 26.2 [miles] that is full of everything that everybody wants and what we as event organizers want is really tough," Gestal said. "It takes a lot of work to get 26.2 miles."

Next up for long-distance runners is the Boston Marathon on April 18, which is the first stop for this year's World Marathon Majors series.

The Altobelli and Mauser families were each given $1.25 million on Wednesday by Los Angeles County as part of a settlement for first responders sharing photos from the site of the helicopter crash that killed Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and eight others in January 2020.

According to Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today, the Altobelli and Mauser families sued L.A. County for for invasion of privacy and negligenceafter county sheriff’s and fire department employees were found to have taken photos of human remains at the crash scene and shared them.

Regarding the settlements, outside counsel for the county Skip Miller said the following:

"We believe these proposed settlements of $1.25 million are reasonable and fair to all concerned. We are pleased that the Mauser and Altobelli families, who as private citizens suffered the same grief and loss as others, will be able to move forward after these settlements. ... We also hope that eventually the other families will be able to do the same."

The helicopter was en route to Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy for a girls' basketball game.

Bryant's daughter Gianna was also among the casualties, along with John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser and the pilot Ara Zobayan.

Gianna Bryant, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester were all teenage basketball players. John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli and Sarah Chester were parents. Mauser was an assistant coach for Team Mamba.

Two lawsuits regarding the photos remain active. One was filed by Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe and mother of Gianna. The other was filed by Chris Chester, husband and father respectively to Sarah Chester and Payton Chester.

Members of the Bryant, Chester, Altobelli and Mauser families also sued Island Express, the owner and operator of the helicopter. The sides reached a confidential settlement in June.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined Tuesday that Ara Zobayan likely violated rules by flying through clouds while piloting a helicopter that was carrying Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant last year.

According to Stefanie Dazio and Brian Melley of the Associated Press, investigators said Zobayan was flying under visual flight rules but likely violated regulations by passing through clouds, which may have caused him to become disoriented before the helicopter crashed.

The 41-year-old Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and all seven other people on board died when the helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, on Jan. 26, 2020.

Per the NTSB, Zobayan nearly broke through the clouds before the copter "banked abruptly," causing it to plummet to the ground.

Kobe's widow, Vanessa Bryant, initially filed wrongful death lawsuits against Zobayan and his employer, Island Express, in February 2020. She later filed an amended lawsuit by adding OC Helicopter as a defendant.

OC Helicopter was the the agency responsible for arranging many helicopter trips for the Bryant family over the years, per ESPN's John Barr.

According to Dazio and Melley, Zobayan's brother, Berge Zobayan, said Kobe Bryant knew the dangers of riding in a helicopter and that the Bryant family shouldn't be entitled to any of Zobayan's estate.

Also, Island Express said it shouldn't be held responsible for the deaths since the crash was caused by an "act of God."

Barr noted that the families of the other passengers all filed wrongful death lawsuits against Island Express as well, alleging that Island Express and Zobayan were "not authorized to fly under instrument flight rules conditions."

In addition to Kobe and Gianna Bryant, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester and Payton Chester died in the crash.

The helicopter was heading to Mamba Sports Academy in Newbury Park, California, where Gianna and her teammates, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, were scheduled to take part in a basketball game.