Jrue Holiday to Miss Start of the Season to Support Wife

By Bob

Credit: (USATSI)

The career of Jrue Holiday thus far has been filled with injuries and unfulfilled potential. The person who seemed like a future star point guard in the league is now only an average starter who can barely stay healthy the entire year. Although i am not blogging about Jrue Holiday today to bag on his mediocre NBA career, in fact I have nothing but respect for the guy. 

Jrue and his wife Lauren (a retired women's soccer player) learned some horrific news this past June, that Lauren had a brain tumor on the right side of her brain. To make the predicament even more serious, Lauren is seven months pregnant with Jrues' unborn baby daughter. I don't know how i would react if i was Jrue, because personally i cannot imagine a more frightening scenario. On the bright side, the tumor has been deemed by doctors as treatable and she can make a full recovery. Although the tricky part is that she will have to go through the pregnancy first before the surgery to remove the tumor, which will require her to have the baby early. Due to these unforeseen circumstances, Jrue will be missing and "indefinite" amount of time from the Pelicans this season. Lauren has to wait six weeks after having the baby in late September for doctors to perform the surgery. Jrue said regarding his circumstances "My family comes before basketball, 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." I give all the credit in the world to Jrue Holiday because he is 100% making the right call here. Family comes before anything and Jrue understands it is his duty to take care of his newborn child and ailing wife. Since the surgery will probably happen some point in early November, Jrue probably will not be in the Pelicans starting lineup anytime soon. Well hey at least they aren't really good to begin with anyway so its not like he is missing anything that important. Sorry Anthony Davis, its most likely going to be another wasted year of your career. The front office is fine with his decision anyways, Alvin Gentry the Pelicans head coach said "The most important thing for Jrue to do right now is be with his wife and family," "Every one of our coaches and players understands what Lauren and Jrue are going through, and they know we're behind them 100 percent." It must be a scary situation, but with everybody supporting Jrue and Lauren there is no doubt in my mind that everything will turn out fine and Jrue can get back the court before the seasons end.