Chatsworth High School basketball player Alijah Arenas practices, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Hans Gutknecht/The Orange County Register via AP)
April 25, 2025 - 11:03 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alijah Arenas, the Southern California basketball recruit who was involved in a fiery vehicle accident, is out of an induced coma, his family said in a statement Friday.
The 18-year-old Arenas remains intubated, his family told ESPN, but has “shown significant signs of progress within the last 24 hours.”
The Los Angeles Police Department said officers responded shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday to single-vehicle collision in the Reseda area of the San Fernando Valley. The LA Fire Department further said the vehicle was a Tesla Cybertruck that crashed into a tree and a fire hydrant with fire involved.
The family said Arenas remembered the smoke from the crash and wrote to ask, “Did anyone get hurt?”
No cause of the crash has been released.
The family expressed its gratitude to those who have helped Arenas and said further updates would be shared “as Alijah continues to heal.”
Arenas is a son of former NBA player Gilbert Arenas. He attends Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles, where he became the first prep boys player to score 3,000 career points.
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