Jrue Holiday was there for his wife, Lauren Holiday, through her pregnancy and battle against brain tumor in 2016.
Jrue Holiday’s wife, Lauren Holiday, had surgery in Oct. 2016 to remove a benign brain tumor. Holiday, still with the New Orleans Pelicans that season, took roughly a month off to take care of Lauren.
The former United States women’s national team soccer player was diagnosed with meningioma in June of that year. After experiencing severe headaches, she had herself tested. The MRI revealed why she had bouts of head-splitting head pains.
After battling an injury riddled start to his career, Jrue Holiday was set for dominance until his wife Lauren was diagnosed with cancer
Jrue took time away to care for Lauren, and since her recovery
• 19.7 pts, 6.8 ast, 4.7 reb
Glad to have the Holiday family in Milwaukee🙏🏽
pic.twitter.com/ID3lEz4koO— IKE Bucks Podcast (@IKE_Bucks)
November 17, 2020
Jrue Holiday, even before the MRI result came, was already reportedly worried about the numbness Lauren Holiday suffered on the right side of her head.
What made Lauren’s situation quite complicated was the fact that she was pregnant with Jrue Tyler Holiday. She gave birth to the couple’s son in September. A month later, she had to undergo surgery to remove the brain tumor.
Fortunately, the New Orleans Pelicans were in the offseason during the later part of her pregnancy and delivery. Jrue Holiday was with her every step of the way. He also had to forego the start of the regular season as his wife recovered from the said surgery.
Four months after the operation, Lauren Holiday posted a lengthy, heartwarming even brave message on Instagram:
“I have never quite known suffering like I experienced the last 6 months. I can remember countless nights repeating ‘there may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning.’ I remember half believing it and half still in disbelief that this was my life. I memorized scripture and some days my faith felt unshakable and others I was scared to death.
Lauren continued:
“Every time I see this smile I’m reminded that joy does come in the morning. Maybe not the next day, maybe not even the next month but it comes. I can’t imagine what heaven will be like if this is the joy I get to experience on earth.
By May 2017, seven months after the operation, Jrue Holiday’s wife finally posted a photo of herself on Instagram. She had a powerful Mother’s Day message that went along with it:
“I have been hiding myself from a camera for the past 7 months. I didn’t want anyone to see my paralyzed face, my eye that is now crossed, the bald spots from radiation & my half-shaved head.
It further read:
“Today reminded me just how incredibly strong women are. The resilience of our bodies, the power of our minds, the ability to put other humans fully before ourselves, our compassionate hearts but most of all our undying love for our families, our friends and our precious babies.”I went through the day admiring women at church, at lunch and those just walking down the street. I am so proud to be a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a wife and most of all a mother.”
“I went through the day admiring women at church, at lunch and those just walking down the street. I am so proud to be a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a wife and most of all a mother.”
Jrue Holiday and Lauren Holiday were recognized for their efforts in the Black community
After their harrowing experience in the past, Jrue Holiday and Lauren Holiday have only gotten stronger. They’ve even become bigger, more influential and more generous members of their community.
Lauren and Jrue Holiday have been awarded the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award for their outstanding support of Black-owned small businesses and nonprofits at this year's ESPYS ❤️ pic.twitter.com/tacbGgJeWO
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 13, 2023
The Holiday couple has recently been named by the ESPYs as the winner of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award. They were recognized for their “outstanding support of Black-owned small businesses and non-profits.”
Jrue Holiday Hopes to Retire with Bucks: ‘I Don’t Want to Play for Any Other Team’
Eric Espada/NBAE via Getty Images
Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday wants to finish his NBA career with the organization, though he’s not looking to retire in the near future.
Speaking to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Holiday said he wants to finish his career in Milwaukee.
“Would love to,” he said. “Before I even won here I think I said I’m a Buck for life and I mean that like deep in my heart. I don’t want to play for any other team. I think we have a chance to continue to do great things as the Bucks team and organization so I want to be in Milwaukee.”
Holiday also clarified previous comments he made about potentially retiring when his current deal ends after the 2024-25 season.
The 33-year-old originally talked about his retirement plans during an appearance on the Point Forward Podcast with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner in May 2022. It didn’t gain traction until after the Bucks were eliminated from the playoffs by the Miami Heat in April 2023.
Jrue Holiday considers RETIRING after he finishes his contract with the #Bucks.
"I feel very strongly about it", Jrue said. #NBA #FearTheDeerpic.twitter.com/S3OPdrV2ha
— TheColdWire.com (@thecoldwire) April 30, 2023
“Just them being my friends and we’ve talked about stages in basketball and sometimes you go through modes or hard spots where like, even with my family, maybe the best thing to do is retire or even just being tired and being exhausted, playing a lot of basketball. But no,” Holiday told Owczarski. “My answer is no, I’m not retiring.”
Holiday has one more season on his deal with a $37.4 million player option for 2024-25. Everything about the Bucks’ future is uncertain at this point until there’s some clarity on what Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to do.
Antetokounmpo will play this season in Milwaukee, but he told Tania Ganguli of the New York Times that he’s not sure about signing an extension with the team:
“The real question’s not going to be this year—numbers-wise it doesn’t make sense. But next year, next summer it would make more sense for both parties. Even then, I don’t know. would not be the best version of myself if I don’t know that everybody’s on the same page, everybody’s going for a championship, everybody’s going to sacrifice time away from their family like I do. And if I don’t feel that, I’m not signing.”
If things don’t go the way Antetokounmpo wants, it’s not implausible to think this will be his final season with the Bucks. They don’t have to trade him if he doesn’t sign an extension, but taking the risk of him playing out the final guaranteed year of his contract in 2024-25 and him leaving for nothing would be more devastating for the franchise than getting nothing back in a potential trade that they can use to accelerate a rebuild.
As long as Antetokounmpo is with the Bucks, players like Holiday, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton are going to be valuable because that’s a proven championship core. They led the franchise to an NBA title during the 2020-21 season.
Holiday was named to the All-Star team last season for the second time in his career. He averaged 19.3 points, 7.4 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game in 67 appearances.
