re: Kevin Arnovitz doesn't think Jrue will re-sign with Pelicans

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I don't see anywhere where Lauren underwent a craniotomy. I don't see anywhere where she had symptoms other than headaches.

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She had surgery to remove the tumor followed by radiotherapy. She didn't want to take pictures with her paralyzed face, crossed eye, and half shaved head. What surgery do you think they performed to remove the tumor?

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Sorry your cousin went through that, but it's not the same situation from what I can observe, as I'm sure your cousin's tumor was much further along and his/her road was much more difficult.

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It's not the same situation, my cousin had a different type of tumor and different symptoms, but also was not pregnant. Again, Lauren's condition was severe enough that the doctors contemplated her having surgery while pregnant. The Holidays refused and decided to induce labor a month early for their first child. Can you imagine risking the life of your first child for something that is no big deal or overblown?

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Did your cousin's wife or husband get to take off work for months at a time? If so, did they pay that person in full for their time off?

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My uncle was off work for 3 months paid in full and after that was allowed to take off as needed. His company also didn't have to worrry about the PR/optics of their decision either.

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Yet it's funny, you can call me an idiot and an a-hole for sharing a brain tumor story, yet your brain tumor story makes you a know-it-all. And you, sir, are going to call me insensitive?

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I didn't call you an a-hole for sharing a brain tumor story. I called you an idiot for saying the situation "wasn't a big deal" and "that it was overblown" and an a-hole for being critical of a person for taking off work to take care of his newborn daughter and be with his wife who was recovering from brain surgery after the prematurely induced birth of his first child, a siutation you claimed was overblown. Jrue stayed home for his wife's recovery and to make sure his daughter was healthy. If you are married with children, then I don't see how you can fault him for that or pretend that the situation was overblown.

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I also went through a similar situation, watched a parent endure a crationomy, and have seen how that affects the person the rest of their life. Brain tumors have been a plot line in my life. They are a story in yours.

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And you apparently thinks that makes you know the Holidays situation and it does not. Having a parent with a brain tumor is not the same as having a wife pregnant with your first child with a brain tumor. I assume you are not married and don't have children.

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Your uncle, meaning he was the parent to the child with a brain tumor. If I'm understanding it correctly.

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Yes. My cousin was 15 when she had surgery.

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Let me ask, does your uncle work for the same company? Did he not feel eternally grateful for how awesome they were to him in his time of need? Id be loyal to a company who was that good to me. I'm sure he was too.

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He opened his own company several years later with his boss' blessing. It was better for him. He was always extremely grateful for his company accommodating him, but the owner always told him he would do it for any employee as it was the right thing to do. FMLA allows for 3 months in these situations and many companies will continue pay especially if it is to take care of a spouse or child.

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I have never said I blamed Jrue for making that decision. I have only said that the team did the right thing, essentially flushing an entire season down the toilet by digging such a hole.

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My problem was with your comments that Lauren's condition was overblown and wasn't a big deal because it was a benign tumor. I just don't see how you can think that given the choices they had to make concerning their child.

The pels didn't have to pay Jrue, but it was the right thing to do and they probably get a James Dolanesque reputation if they don't. Jrue likely holds a grudge if they do not appear to be fully accomodating of his situation and the rest of the players in the NBA make a mental note that the Pels don't care about their players. Jrue would have taken off anyways and didn't need the money, so do you want the bad reputation and possibly piss off your franchise player over ~$1.5M? It sucks that it happened, but it doesn't mean he is required to take a paycut to stay here or can't explore free agency.

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I would add that the tone of the messages indicate she didn't have her skull opened up. I'm pretty sure that detail would have been mentioned somewhere. Yeah it hasn't been a fun road back for her, but it also is less serious than them having to open up her skull.

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She underwent surgery to remove the tumor. They opened her skull up. It is a standard treatment for meningiomas.

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None of the news was presented as dire or life threatening.

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They contemplated performing surgery while she was pregnant. They induced birth a month early to expedite surgery. If you think that is not dire, you must not have any kids.

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You keep making things up and treating them as they are facts. I'm looking at the facts. We don't know they opened up her head.

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She had brain surgery to remove a tumor. How do you think they accomplished that?

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Not once was anything reported that the baby or Lauren's life was in danger.

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If Lauren's life or well being is not in danger, they do not accept the risks of inducing birth a month early.

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You think they'd knowingly endanger the child to push up surgery if they weren't confident? Do you think Jrue or Lauren would opt to push up the surgery knowing they were endangering the child? That's a shittier thing to assume than ANYTHING I've said about Lauren or Jrue.

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I believe they induced birth early and accepted the risks that come along with that to rush the surgery so that both Lauren and the child would be okay as opposed to waiting and possibly losing both. Why else would they induce an early birth?

Who in the hell are any of us to assume or expect that we know the personal details of Lauren's situation or judge anyone about this? I am sure there are many personal details that none of us are privilege to. Let's stick to the basketball aspects.

Because for only sticking to the facts, you seem to be pretty certain that Jrue was milking the situation for a few extra weeks of vacation.

So you are not denying that you believe that Jrue used his wife's situation as an excuse to take a month off?

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We simply weren't good enough.

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We would have been closer to the 8 if we didn't make the trade. We lost buddy, Tyreke, and Galloway. It killed our guard depth. Main reason Jrue played so bad. He was alone in the back court.

We didn't start winning until we hit a mini stroke of luck by bringing up a d-leaguer.

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You are just boldly making assumptions at this point. I'm going off of everything being reported.

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I am making an inference based on the facts and experience, not an assumption. Early induced labor involves risks to the child and the mother. A parent especially for a first child would only accept those risks if the benefits outweigh the risks. Lauren was experiencing severe headaches and numbness in her face before surgery as the tumor was pressing against a nerve. Expediting the surgery to remove the tumor was important enough for the Holidays to accept the risks of early induced labor. I think it is safe to say that they elected to induce labor early for her well being.

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My parent has had the tumor come back multiple times, both gamma knifed and same-day outpatient surgery. Obviously hers was more complicated than that, but they try not to open up the skull if at all possible. I'm sure they used some sort of radiation to zap the tumor.

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So you are just boldly assuming they did not perform invasive surgery based on the absence of media reports of the details of the procedure?

The reports have all been that she had surgery, not radiosurgery including from actual neurosurgeons. She posted that she had a tumor resection. They do not typically use that term or shave half of your head for a gamma knife procedure. She also did not have outpatient surgery. She underwent the procedure at Duke University Hospital where she rehabbed and received radiation treatment post-surgery.

I don't know if maybe they somehow went through her orbital socket instead of cutting open the skull, but based on everything reported, she had invasive surgery. I believe Meningiomas are about as routine as you get in the world of neurosurgery and her life probably was not in grave danger. However the threat to her was significant enough to accept birth risks and it is still invasive brain surgery just after giving birth to her first child. I would quit my job before returning to work priot to being 100% confident my family was okay for me to go.


I don't know what you expect of Jrue, but it makes no sense for him to tank the season or wait longer than necessary to return. He had financial incentive to play the whole season and play his best to get the Pels to the playoffs. Some things are more important though. The Pels essentially gave him ~$1.5M. That was very nice and hopefully got us positive PR among players, but it doesn't obligate Jrue to re-sign here without exploring free agency.

so this is where i think we are:

1) no Pels fan should have a great deal of faith that Demps will make the smart move in any given situation.

2) there are legitimate questions about Holiday not only being part of a big 3, but also fitting in with Cousins/Davis on top of how much $$ he wants

3) Holiday's free agency is going to be tricky for reasons above and, perhaps, personal ones.

4) the Pels own terrible job of cap management and roster depth adds to the degree of difficulty for a GM that most Pels fans would agree is in over his head.

is that fair?

to me, it seems like you are worried about Demps doing the dumb thing (overpay, wait Holiday out, etc), which is completely understandable and a fear for the vast majority of Pels fans.

what i dont understand is the stuff about Holiday screwing the Pels over.

this is where Demps needs to earn his salary and do the homework to figure out a price the team can accept for Holiday and negotiate to that number. to explore alternative options given their meager cap space and new roster/scheme. to decide how long to wait for an answer from Holiday before moving on.

to me, waiting Holiday out and/or giving him too big a number is a sign of a front office that has no ideas and is trying to save their jobs, which is sadly all too familiar in NO. but it is not, to me, perfidy from a free agent