Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday will miss an indefinite amount of time this season to care for his wife, Lauren, who will have brain surgery to remove a tumor shortly after the birth of their child in October.
Lauren, who was an accomplished professional soccer player and the US Women’s National Team MVP in 2014 before retiring last summer to start a family, started experiencing painful headaches earlier this year. According to The Times Picayune, Mrs. Holiday had an MRI and doctors discovered an operable tumor near her orbital socket.
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The good news was the tumor was operable and not a threat to the Holidays’ unborn daughter. After successful surgery, doctors were confident Lauren would return to full health.
The brain surgery, however, would need to wait until after Lauren gave birth, pushing the procedure and her recovery well into the NBA regular season. Consequently, Holiday, finally healthy after an injury-riddled three-year tenure with the Pelicans, is expected to miss an indefinite period of time during the regular season while serving as a caretaker for his wife and newborn.
“My family comes before basketball,” said Holiday, 26. “I’m obviously blessed to play this game and be in the position I am in, but my wife is the most important thing in the world to me. She comes before anything else.”
