Jrue Holiday to Miss Start of Season to Care for Wife Lauren After Brain Surgery

New Orleans Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday will miss the start of the 2016-17 NBA season to care for his pregnant wife, Lauren, who will undergo surgery to remove a benign brain tumor after she gives birth in the fall.

According to the Times-Picayune's Jeff Duncan, Lauren—a retired member of the United States women's national soccer team—was diagnosed with a tumor on the right side of her brain in June. But because she's pregnant, doctors have advised her to wait until after she gives birth to undergo surgery.

Duncan reported it's "unclear how much time Holiday will miss this season" since Lauren is due in mid-October. However, Duncan added "the couple hopes to induce the birth early—perhaps as soon as late September—to expedite her treatment," with the brain surgery likely to take place six weeks after their child is born.

On Monday, Lauren and Jrue Holiday took to Twitter to thank fans for their support:

Lauren Holiday retired from the USWNT following its 2015 FIFA World Cup victory, in which she scored what turned out to be the winning goal, to spend more time with her family, per Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated. Holiday also has two Olympic gold medals to her name as a member of the national team.

"My family comes before basketball," Jrue Holiday said. "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."

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While there is no firm timetable on how much of the regular season Holiday will miss, Duncan labeled it as an "indefinite period."

"The most important thing for Jrue to do right now is be with his wife and family," Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said. "Every one of our coaches and players understands what Lauren and Jrue are going through, and they know we're behind them 100 percent."

An All-Star during the 2012-13 season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Holiday has been limited by injuries since he was traded to the Pelicans in July 2013. All told, the 26-year-old has appeared in 139 of 246 regular-season games over the past three seasons.

However, Holiday did make strides last season, averaging 16.8 points, 6.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per contest in 65 games—the most games he's played since the 2012-13 campaign.