Kevin Seraphin, Knicks' French national, shaken by attacks

Knicks forward Kevin Seraphin, born in French Guiana and a citizen of France, was horrified by the Friday terror attacks that took place about 45 minutes from where he spends his summers with members of his family.

"It's kind of scary because there's nothing you can do about it," said Seraphin, who did not play in the Knicks' loss to the Cavaliers Friday night. "You just think about how some people went to see a soccer game or went to see a comedy and are not coming back home; you don't really expect that. It's just scary. People are kind of scared to go out or to just do anything."

Seraphin said his parents are here and his brother is in Toronto, so his family is fine.

With the Wizards last season, Seraphin wore a T-shirt honoring the victims from the January Charlie Hebdo attack in France.

"I'm just scared that this will start to be often," Seraphin said. "It's kind of sad. It's really sad."

Seraphin said his Knicks teammates talked to him to express concern and offer their prayers.

After their 90-84 loss to Cleveland, Carmelo Anthony put the game in context.

"There's a lot of things going on in the world," he said. "We're fortunate enough to be here playing in a basketball game. Even though we lost, it puts a lot of things in perspective."

In Toronto, Pelicans center Alexis Ajinca said he had a hard time focusing on basketball Friday night.

The native of Saint-Etienne, France, was worried about the safety of his family in Paris, where terrorist attacks killed at least 129 people. He didn't get confirmation that they were all safe until after New Orleans' 100-81 loss to the Raptors, and he was especially concerned about a cousin who was at the France-Germany soccer friendly rocked by the sound of nearby explosions.

"It's just a crazy world. You think you're safe, you're just walking down the street, and the next thing you know, people start shooting," Ajinca said. "My prayers go to my family and friends."

Ajinca wrote "Pray for Paris" on his sneakers and asked his Twitter followers to "pray for my family and friends" before the game.

"During the whole game, I was trying to get this out of my mind so I was able to stay focused," Ajinca said after recording 10 points and nine rebounds in the loss. "It felt weird. I was thinking about it the whole game."

In Chicago, the Hornets' Nicolas Batum and the Bulls' Joakim Noah shared a moment before their game. Batum is from Lisieux, France, and played for the French national team at the 2012 Olympics. Noah's father is French former tennis player Yannick Noah. The pair asked about each other's families before tipoff, and both had good news to report.

"Still a tough day for us," Batum said after Chicago's 102-97 win. "I think about it all game. I wanted to do a good game to show them in my way, we're strong."

Batum said he stayed on his phone as long as possible before the game trying to locate his family. He has a sister who lives near the site of one of the attacks.

"I talked to my sister and some friends and everybody is all right," Batum said. "They're shocked. They told me Paris is like a war outside. Everybody is outside. The police is outside. The army is outside."

Noah lived in Paris from 1988 to 1998, and his dad won the French Open at Paris' Roland Garros in 1983. Noah also called family before the game to confirm that everyone was all right.

"I'm not sure [what happened]," he said. "I just know it's very, very sad what's going on in Paris. A lot of people died for no reason. We're not really sure exactly what happened."

NBA arenas around the league held moments of silence for the victims in Paris. French players Seraphin and Boris Diaw were among the many players who tweeted their thoughts for victims and the country. Cavaliers star LeBron James also weighed in and offered his condolences.

"Our world right now is having so many different tragedies, so many different innocent people and victims are losing lives over nonsense,'' he said, "and hopefully at some point in time, people will realize that's not the way to live."

With The Associated Press

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.