NBA insider drops major Lakers vs Hornets postponement update amid LA wildfires

The Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets are slated to meet on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Nonetheless, given the recent string of fires hitting the city, it seems like the NBA is actually considering postponing this matchup.

ESPN insider Malika Andrews reported on "Get Up" that the league was trending towards playing the game before the situation intensified on Wednesday night:

"There are discussions of postponing this game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets," Andrews admitted. "Now, if you'd asked me that question last night or at dinner time, I would've said that this was trending towards this game being played."

The renowned insider affirmed that both teams and even the referees were already in Los Angeles. Then again, the league is still keeping an eye on the situation, hoping that first responders and firefighters will be able to keep the situation under control:

"The Charlotte Hornets did fly in on Wednesday night. They are here in Los Angeles," said Andrews. "The referees, they're all in Los Angeles. But, one of the factors that the NBA is continuing to weigh and keeping an eye on is, overnight, the winds that have just been ripping through Los Angeles and really spreading these blazes. Players are affected here, coaches are affected here," she added.

Lakers need to bounce back after a tough loss

The Lakers are coming off one of their worst losses of the season. They went on the road against a severely undermanned Dallas Mavericks team that was missing both Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.

They couldn't keep up with Jason Kidd's team, and they wound up losing by more than 20 points. Notably, it didn't take long before the fans and media pundits ripped JJ Redick's squad over this performance.

The Lakers were riding strong momentum before that loss, and they're now 20-16 for the season. Then again, that kind of inconsistency has raised plenty of questions about whether they can compete for a title.

That's why facing a slumping team like the Hornets might be just what they need to get back on track and leave that tough loss behind them.

They recently acquired Dorian Finney-Smith in a trade that shipped D'Angelo Russell away to the Brooklyn Nets, and there have been reports about them also being in the mix to trade for a big man, with Jonas Valanciunas as a potential target.