NBA Legend Chris Bosh Denies Suspect’s Claims He Was Involved with 2025 Los Angeles Fires
The claims came as part of a request by arson suspect Jonathan Rinderknecht’s attorney to introduce testimony from a retired fire investigator at his ongoing federal retrial
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Chris-Bosh-8fee9b7e080a4faca34044064c2f703c.jpg "Chris Bosh attends the game between the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs on October 23, 2026 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas")
Credit: Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- NBA legend Chris Bosh is denying new claims that fireworks may have been launched from his property near the site where the Lachman Fire started in Los Angeles before it turned into the deadly Palisades Fire in January 2025
- The claims came as part of a request by arson suspect Jonathan Rinderknecht’s attorney to introduce testimony from a retired fire investigator at his ongoing federal retrial, The California Post reported
- “To our knowledge, our Pacific Palisades property was unoccupied and was not being rented or used by guests during the time,” the former Miami Heat player wrote in part, on Instagram
NBA legend Chris Bosh is denying claims that fireworks may have been launched from his property near the site where the small brush fire that later became the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles began, according to a new report.
Arson suspect Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, is being retried on federal charges alleging he caused the Jan. 1, 2025 blaze that became one of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history. His first trial ended in a mistrial in June 2026 after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.
As the retrial — which began with jury selection on Nov. 2 — continues, Rinderknecht’s defense attorney, Steve Haney, wrote in a court filing obtained by the California Post on Thursday, Nov. 12, that he wants to introduce testimony from retired fire investigator Michael T. Cole, who has has 18 years of experience in the arson unit.
Cole reportedly believes fireworks had been launched from a residence near where the Lachman Fire began in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
The Post reported that the $11 million mansion referenced in the court filing belongs to two-time NBA champion Chris Bosh, who has not been accused of starting the fire or charged with any crime.
Credit: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty
On Friday, Nov. 13, the former Miami Heat player and his wife Adrienne Bosh denied having involvement in the case, saying in a statement shared to Instagram that their family was “not in Pacific Palisades on New Year’s Eve 2024 or New Year’s Day 2025. We were at our residence in Austin, Texas.”
“To our knowledge, our Pacific Palisades property was unoccupied and was not being rented or used by guests during the time,” the statement continued. “We have assisted the appropriate authorities by providing security footage in our possession and relevant information available to us.”
The statement concluded: “We recognized the seriousness of this tragic event and have supported the authorities in their efforts to establish the facts.”
According to a separate filing obtained by the Post, prosecutors are seeking to remove Cole as a witness, citing his lack of experience in identifying firework marks. They also noted that Cole only examined the dark marks through six photos that were taken by a drone a month after the fire started, per the outlet.
After a nine-month investigation, authorities determined that the Lachman Fire started on Jan. 1, 2025. Though firefighters extinguished the initial brush fire, it continued to smolder underground for several days without anyone realizing it remained active, according to a federal complaint previously obtained by PEOPLE.
NEED TO KNOW
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Credit: Bill Essayli, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California/X
On Jan. 7, 2025, strong winds caused the fire to reignite and spread above ground, becoming the deadly Palisades Fire, the complaint states.
Prosecutors allege Rinderknecht likely used a lighter that set fire to combustible material, such as vegetation or paper, to cause the initial blaze, the complaint states. He was arrested in October 2025.
Records showed the Palisades Fire burned over 20,000 acres, caused 12 deaths and resulted in billions of dollars in property damage.
Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty to revised felony charges of one count of destruction of property using fire and one of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, KTLA and the New York Times reported.