“She had a baby girl, so she’s doing fine,” Davis said at the Pelicans’ media day (via ESPN). “Now it’s time to get Lauren back on track.”

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Jrue Holiday has taken an indefinite leave of absence, with the support of his team, to help his family. The Pelicans begin exhibition play Oct. 1, and their regular season starts Oct. 26.

“We don’t have a timetable on his return,” Pelicans General Manager Dell Demps said of Holiday on Friday (via the Pelicans’ website). “When the time is right, Jrue will come back to the team. We feel as an organization — led by the Bensons [the family that owns the team] — that it’s most important for him to be a husband right now. For now, our hearts and prayers are with them, and we hope that Lauren has successful surgery.”

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“Having Jrue there for support is very important,” said Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry. “In our case, we told Jrue to forget about the basketball part of it. This is where you take care of your family. We’re going to welcome him back whenever he feels that it’s time to come back, and his family is in good hands.”

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Lauren, who underwent open-heart surgery to fix a congenital defect at the age of 3, won gold in 2008 and 2012 while playing under her maiden name, Cheney, before marrying Jrue in 2013. Lauren and Jrue, 28 and 26, respectively, met while both were athletes at UCLA. The Holidays’ baby was due in October, but they opted for Lauren to be induced early in order to schedule her surgery sooner.

“For something like this to happen is really, really devastating,” Pelicans forward Quincy Pondexter said (via the New Orleans Times Picayune). “I fully believe that they can handle this situation because of how good they are and how great their faith is.

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“When we saw Jrue over the summer, I couldn’t believe that he was acting just like his normal self. I know he has so much on his shoulders right now.”

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A 2013 NBA all-star, Jrue Holiday was drafted 17th overall in 2009 by the 76ers and is now in his fourth season with New Orleans. After a pair of injury-plagued campaigns, he is coming off of his best season for the Pelicans, one in which he averaged 16.8 points, 6.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds, garnering a 19.7 player efficiency rating.

“There’s a sadness just because of the situation,” Gentry said. “It’s a very difficult situation to deal with, especially at that age. They are two great people, two great athletes, and understanding what they were going through, it was really tough.