Last Sunday a man opened fire at the Route 91 Music Festival in Las Vegas, killing 58 people, injuring hundreds of others and affecting people all throughout the country in what is the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
Since the shooting people from all places have come together to help out the victims and their families, whether it be by donating money or blood, etc.
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings are set to play a preseason game in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena on Sunday night. The two organizations have banded together to make the game contribute towards a greater cause, as they announced that in conjunction with the T-Mobile Arena, AEG and MGM Resorts International, all the proceeds from Sunday’s game will be donated directly to benefit victims, their families and first responders through the MGM Resorts Foundation.
Los Angeles Lakers center Stephen Zimmerman, who grew up in Las Vegas and attended UNLV, recently reflected on the tragic incident, saying that it hurt his entire city, via Tania Ganguli of the L.A. Times:
“That’s something that’s going to affect Las Vegas forever,” Zimmerman said.
“It hurts,” Zimmerman said. “It feels way more personal. It’s one of those things that’s like, you never know how it feels until it happens to you and it feels like it happened to me. It’s kind of hard to describe.”
Zimmerman, who is on a partially guaranteed contract with the Lakers and is fighting for the final roster spot out of training camp, said that he had friends that were in attendance at the festival but luckily none were harmed. He also added that in addition to the Lakers donation he will also do whatever he can to help the cause.
