Pelicans’ Holiday taking leave for wife’s brain surgery

But the former FC Kansas City midfielder has also had to contend with something else during her pregnancy-a benign brain tumor.

Jrue Holiday has told the Times-Picayune/NOLA.com, which first reported Lauren Holiday’s condition, that their baby is due in mid-October but could be induced early, and that Lauren will have brain surgery about six weeks later.

The New Orleans Pelicans will be Jrue Holiday-less to start the 2016-17 season, as the 26-year-old point guard will miss the beginning of the campaign for an indefinite amount of time to be a caretaker for his pregnant wife, Lauren, as she deals with surgery to remove a brain tumor.

According to the Times-Picayune, the Holidays will spend the next few months in North Carolina, closer to Lauren’s doctors at Duke University.

Lauren Holiday scored the USWNT’s game-winning goal at the World Cup previous year.

‘The most important thing for Jrue to do right now is be with his wife and family, ‘ Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said in a statement.

‘Every one of our coaches and players understands what Lauren and Jrue are going through, and they know we’re behind them 100 per cent.

“Lauren has her good days and her bad days”, Jrue, 26, told NOLA.com. She is now due in mid-October, though the couple would like to induce labor to expedite her treatment if possible.

Some very sad National Basketball Association news to report this morning.

Pelicans general manager Dell Demps expressed support for Jrue Holiday’s decision in a statement Sunday. “We understand that Jrue will miss some games, and his teammates are prepared to step up in his absence. That’s the reason why I married her”. “We will welcome Jrue back with open arms his when he is ready to return to the team”.

Jrue has already informed his team that he’ll begin his eighth National Basketball Association season right by his wife’s side in North Carolina, where both the surgery and the birth will occur. “I don’t think they know how much their support means to me and my family”.

Lauren, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, lives in New Orleans, but often returns home to Indianapolis, hosting youth soccer clinics. “We can take all the prayers that we can get”.